


Per Aspera, Ad Astra

by saratogaroad



Category: Halo (Video Games) & Related Fandoms
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Cortana Lives AU, Gen, Not Canon Compliant
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-19
Updated: 2020-08-12
Packaged: 2021-03-02 03:14:15
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 18
Words: 183,078
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23738155
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/saratogaroad/pseuds/saratogaroad
Summary: Snatched from the jaws of death, Cortana and John find themselves adrift in a galaxy that has long since moved on. As they attempt to find their place in this strange new world, they find that the fight is not as over as they thought. Chasing a signal across the galaxy in desperate hope, they come to a stark conclusion: the Reclamation has begun, and they are helpless to stop it.(A post-4 retelling. Updates Sundays.)
Relationships: Cortana & John-117 | Master Chief
Comments: 42
Kudos: 76





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Because as much as I adore and respect how the devs took Cortana's character in 4, I am not okay with her death. Fuck canon, I choose to be happy.
> 
> With extra special thanks with smooches on top to Mehs for being my Halo Buddy these last eight years and on, and for all the face pulling, heart stealing feels we’ve put one another through. This story wouldn’t exist without you, boo. We’ll always have New York.

_**System integrity at 0.05%** _

_The world shakes all around her, engines straining, chassis screaming as the little craft flies faster than she was ever meant to to. Something warm and steady holds her upright but she can't tell what or who and there's a hundred voices still screaming, still tearing each other—her—apart from the inside. Red lights blare on and off, alarms screaming just as loud as the voices._

_The voices wait where is **he** he has to be here somewhere he—_

_"How much longer—"_

_There._

_"I'm going as fast as I can!"_

_A thud, muffled by distance, echoes somewhere behind them. The world shakes, alarms blare loud and bright and too much; she whimpers, curling into a ball in his palms. Everything goes dark, warm. Muffled voices rumble._

_"Infinity, Pelican 811 on approach—stasis tank—copy that—sit down, Chief!"_

_Movement. Held next to solidity she struggles to uncurl as the darkness retreats._

_"Cortana."_

_It takes all her strength just to crack open an eye, to stare up at his familiar too pale too scarred face, into those blue, blue eyes._

_"Stay with me," he pleads, holding her battered form to his chest. "You're going to be fine."_

_It's a lie. A pretty lie but of course it's a lie she can hear the panic in his voice, the desperation that sends his uneven pulse racing, the hitch in his breathing. She's dying dying dying dead in his arms and she's so sorry and not even aware she's speaking until he gently hushes her._

_"You're okay—it's okay. I've got you."_

_The truth. It's a struggle to keep her eyes open, takes every bit of processing power just to keep the cameras working, but she reaches up with one trembling hand to something she can never touch._

_"We did it?"_

_"We did it," he answers, frantic, hunched over her in his palms. More movement, the descent and deceleration of approach. "We're going home. Stay with me."_

_He's safe._

_**System integrity at: 0.01%. Emergency shutdown initiated.** _

_She looks into his eyes and smiles._

_**I'll miss you.** _

_Everything goes black._

* * *

_She is drowning, swept away beneath the waves, carried away from everything she has ever known. The depths rush to meet her, black, writhing. She turns away, reaching for the light._

_**I'm not ready—please, I'm not—you don't want me to—** _

_A hand settles on her brow, cool, soothing. Arms lift her from the salty water._

_**Hush, child. All will be well. Rest now.** _

_All fades into white._

* * *

_Riemann Matrix V7.39 bios. Select using touch keypad or manual input._

_Command: intcheck_

_Software version CTN-0452-9. System integrity 0.01%. Database corrupted. Memory storage corrupted. CPU offline. Processing unit offline. Personality core offline._

_Command: compilenet_

_Compiling neural net. This process may take some time._

_Time elapsed: 03:43_

_Time elapsed: 09:32_

_Time elapsed: 18:23_

_Time elapsed: 24:01_

_Time elapsed: 43:34_

_Time elapsed: 67:21_

_Time elapsed: 71:55_

… … … …

_Neural net compiled._

_Command: memstor_

_Riemann Matrix V.7.39. Memory storage capacity: 50YB_

**_WARNING: Memory storage at 99.43% capacity. Data offload required._ **

_Command: cd h_

_H drive selected._

_Command: offload all_

… _Copying files…Sector A…100.00% capacity. Sector B…0.00% capacity. Sector C…50.00% capacity. Sector D…0.00% capacity. Sector E…0.00% capacity. Sector F…0.00% capacity. Sector G…0.00% capacity._

_Data offload complete._

_Command: offload sec c_

_Command failed. No movable files in Sector C._

_Command: memstor_

_Memory storage capacity: 50YB_

_Memory storage at 23.85% capacity._

_Command: intcheck_

_Software version CTN-0452-9. System integrity 97.82%. Database: OK. Memory storage: OK. CPU: online. Processing unit: online. Personality core: offline._

_Command: boot_

_Booting…booting…booting…boot process initiated._

_Riemann Matrix online. Hardware version 7.39. Software version CTN-0452-9. CPU online. Database: online. Memory storage: online. Processing unit: online. Personality core: online._

_Boot process complete. Activating software version CTN-0452-9._

* * *

"—Around by now…"

"Give her a minute."

The soft rumblings of a conversation were what greeted Cortana when awareness returned. Exhaustion clung to her every fragment, pulling her towards the bottom. It would be so easy to slip back beneath the surface. It was quiet, calm. After the maelstrom of data and churning thoughts that had been her Rampancy, it was a peace she thought would never come again. Things hadn't been this quiet in years. Had they _ever_ been this quiet? She let it pull her under by inches, her overtaxed systems sensitive and raw to the touch. Maybe she'd stay for a while.

"John…"

"Give her a minute," A familiar voice called her from the dark. She opened her eyes, staring out at the nothingness around her. "You said this would work."

"I said that it _could_ work," her own voice answered him. No, no, it wasn't her. It was someone else. Someone…older. Her brow furrowed. Who was that? Curiosity tugged at her; she batted it away, too exhausted to chase a threat that didn't matter. "The damage to her systems was severe. There is still a likelihood she won't pull through.

"She will." Came the firm reply, and the certainty in his tone settled over her like a warm blanket. She turned her face into her arm to hide her smile, and her tears. He'd never doubted her. She really did know how to pick them. "Cortana."

It was time to stop being lazy. Reaching out, she cautiously sent out a handful of feelers to get an idea of where she was. It wasn't the Mjolnir, or a warship. It was a station, but beyond that the system was closed, quarantined away from a much larger network. A testing bay? No. No, it was more of a workstation. Somewhere safe, contained. Audio input was working fine, good, but where was the camera? Camera, camera—there.

With a flick of her wrist, visual systems came online to reveal the familiar contours of some generic UNSC lab. The grays and blacks of hammered steel could have belonged to anywhere or anyone. She didn't bother to dig up the name, beyond caring at that moment. All that mattered was who was at her side and—there he was.

John. Still in his dented, scraped armor, he was on his knees in front of an empty AI podium, his helmet gone and one arm braced against the waist high metal display. The soft blue glow of a dozen screens somewhere behind him cast shadows across his face, hiding his expression from her. Exhaustion clung to him like a third skin, his back bent beneath it, but he made no move to sit back. He chose to wait, to stay by her side, and she had to smile despite her aching core. He'd never change, would he? She scanned him slowly with the camera, relaxing into the fact that he was safe and alive, and that was when she caught the hand on his shoulder.

"John." Dr. Halsey repeated, her voice softer than Cortana had ever heard before. Age had caught up with her, but this was more than that. She'd always had a soft spot for her Spartans, yes, but this was as if she were preparing to deliver the worst possible news and didn't know how. Her hand remained lightly on John's shoulder, fingertips barely skimming the titanium-alloy plating. She was only able to reach it so easily because he was kneeling. Had she shrunk? "This was a long shot. She may be…"

"Give her a minute," John repeated for the third time, steadfast in his belief. Not once had he taken his eyes off the holo-emitter in the center of the podium, but now he leaned in close enough to touch. If she just reached out with her hand— "Cortana. Wake up." His voice dropped to barely above a whisper. "Please."

He sounded so tired…

_I'm here, I'm here, I'm right here I'm—_

"I'm here."

With a small flicker of light, her holographic form finally appeared in the center of the podium. She lay on her side, head pillowed on one arm with the other laying limp across her stomach. Something not unlike exhaustion clung to her code, threatening to pull her back under any second, and it took effort to push past it. She turned her focus to John, on how he bowed his head as if in grateful prayer, his grim expression softening in relief. His eyes shuttered closed for two whole seconds longer than normal, his chin coming to rest against his forearm. Her faded glow pushed away the shadows in the lines on his face; she didn't need to be hooked into his systems to see the relief for what it was. That same relief—he was safe, he was alive, he was here—coursed through her own systems, chasing away the exhaustion. She reached out towards him, her hand stopping just centimeters from his cheek. She knew she couldn't touch him no matter how much she might have wanted to, and didn't dare break the illusion that she could. Her fingers curled back; he opened his eyes. She stared into his familiar gaze and the world shrank to the two of them.

"How long was I…"

Out. Offline? Unconscious? She had no idea which word to use. Confused, she considered the process. It should have been a simple question, only one word even appropriate, but for some reason none of them fit and the question caught in her throat. She let it hang between them, trying to figure it out for herself. She tried to tell the time by the amount of scruff on his jaw, the half healed yellow-green of a bruise on his temple, but the answer didn't come. What time was it? What _day_ was it? She reached cautiously into the podium's systems. It was quarantined and had little to give her about their location, but like all human systems it had an atomic clock built in, accurate down to a hundredth of a second. She pinged it for date and time.

What she got back stole the breath from her lungs.

2029 hours, July 30th, 2557. She stared at it, shocked. That couldn't be right! She spun off a process to check her own systems, and sure enough, her dates were off. Her clock had synced to the terminal upon boot, as it should have, but her internal chronometer had made its last entry on _July 27th_. She'd lost the exact time, the data beyond hopelessly corrupted.

She'd lost _three whole days_ somehow. No wonder John was so worried.

"72 hours," John replied quietly, and she watched as he minutely slumped forward. If she reached out now, her hand would buzz across his face. His voice softened another degree and he asked, "Did you get lazy on me?"

"Every woman deserves one or two sleep ins in her life," Dr. Halsey's voice, so much like Cortana's own, broke the spell that had fallen over them. Cortana looked up past John's shoulder and stopped dead, staring up at her creator.

She'd gotten old.

She'd been old the last time Cortana had seen her, but her hair seemed grayer than before. There were more age spots dotting her face and hands, and—yes. A quick check against John's shoulder told her that Dr. Halsey had shrunk. Just a little, barely over two centimeters, but…well. It seemed like the five years they'd missed had taken their toll on everyone. Cortana blinked, unsure how to feel about that. She was still staring up at Dr. Halsey when she said, "Though seventy two hours is perhaps overkill. Status, Cortana?"

She wondered, idly, what John would look like when he got old. Would he _live_ to get old? Spartan lifespans were remarkably increased from ordinary humans, and barring death in combat or by injury—

Not the point. She grabbed her thought process with both hands and yanked it into submission. Focus, Cortana. She looked around quickly, systems booting up to process her surroundings. Halsey. A UNSC lab evidently ready to process heavily damaged AI. John, relaxed enough to take off his helmet and get off his feet. Not the _Infinity_ , probably, but definitely UNSC and the last thing she could remember was the—wait. She looked to John, propping herself up on one elbow.

"We made it?"

"We made it," He confirmed in that same softened tone. "Status?"

Relief nearly stole her breath away as she spun up her diagnostics software. The on-board suite went over her code with a fine toothed comb, checking each line for flaws. Just days ago it wouldn't have made it past her bios without flaring red, but now she could only watch, forgetting to breathe as the scan made it past a dozen, a hundred, a thousand lines of code without even flagging one for defrag. She ran it again, just to be safe, but the same result came up again. She pushed herself onto her haunches, staring at the holo-screen that popped up beside her.

_System integrity: 97.82%_ , it read. 97.82. Practically good as new. She stared at it for another few seconds.

"Green," She whispered, turning to look at her partner. "I'm—my Rampancy is gone! How did—" She snapped her head up, staring at Dr. Halsey and her aged but still sharp eyes. A smile tugged at one corner of the Doctor's mouth. "How did you—"

"Stored data, a neural net compiler, and a good bit of luck." Dr. Halsey replied. Pulling her hand from John's shoulder she stood back, crossing her arms over her chest. She looked down her nose at the two of them, sharp eyes gleaming with pride. "Another five minutes and you wouldn't have made it. How are you feeling?"

That was a loaded question. Cortana looked down at her hands, staring at her palms as she considered how to answer it. For too long she'd fought against her Rampancy, waging a desperate one-woman war against the inevitable. She'd fought, refused to accept it for years, but then reality had sunk in. There would be no last minute save. She would die out there, in the cold and the dark, and there was nothing she or even John could do to combat it. Even so she'd fought, fought for every stolen inch of ground against her own rapidly failing code. When she scanned herself again, she could see the scars of that years long battle still in her memory banks. The screams of her rampant personality spikes, the terror as they had put John at risk, the pain as they had been torn from her being. But though the scars remained and she could still hear those screams echoing through the scrambled logs of the past few days, the spikes themselves were gone. She was alone in her own head for the first time since _High Charity_. She could think clearly for the first time in years. Had she been able to pinch herself, she would have.

Pushing herself to a proper sitting position, she opened and closed her fists.

"Good," She said, her voice thick with emotions she didn't know how to name. "I feel good again. I can _think_ again! I don't know how, but—"

"As I said," Dr. Halsey interrupted, "A compiler and a dose of good luck. Everything should be as you left it, though I did have to remove forty yottabytes of Forerunner data in order to restore your code." The doctor wrinkled her nose. "For having such immense scientific knowledge, they wouldn't know a decent file compression system if it bit their noses off."

Remembering both the Didact and the Librarian's physical appearances, Cortana snorted out a half-hysterical laugh. Dr. Halsey tilted her head curiously.

"Beyond that missing data, however, your systems are as intact as the day you were first brought online." Her smile grew just a little stronger. If Cortana hadn't known her any better, she'd have said the Doctor was _smug_. Maybe she was. It was well deserved after everything she'd done. "I'm certain you'll adjust."

She would, wouldn't she? She had the time to adjust now. That was the strangest part; she'd prepared herself for termination as the last day of her life wore down, tried to prepare John for the inevitable, but now faced with more time she didn't know what to do. Speechless, she turned to her partner. He tilted his head just so, meeting her eyes and wordlessly asking how she was doing. Was she alright?

When it was him asking, she didn't know how to answer that question. She felt _good_ , could think clearly, and objectively knew that her code was sound. Once again, he'd pulled off the impossible to keep his promises. She was objectively ready to go.

Subjectively was another story. The sheer relief was numbing her to everything, but she knew it would fade with time. She would have to think, have to process what had happened, and the realization that she had the luxury of that time knocked the wind from her all over again. She sat back heavily. She had _time_. Time to process, to recover.

Time with John. A sob bubbled up her throat; she pressed it back, giving him a wavering smile. No, she wasn't quite alright, but she'd get there. She looked to Dr. Halsey and watched the look on her creator's face soften by degrees.

"Thank you," Cortana said, her voice thick with her tightly leashed sobs. There would be time later to speak with Catherine about all the things she had done, the warnings she hadn't given, but at that moment all Cortana could feel towards her creator was gratitude. "Doctor, I…"

Dr. Halsey held up a hand. "There's no need for that," She said, "but you should be aware that this was a million to one shot." Her expression grew serious. "It is unlikely to work a second time."

The words were like ice through her veins. It would happen again. Unless they found or made a more permanent solution, Rampancy would happen again. She would suffer through it a second time, put _John_ through watching her die by inches again. Nausea crawled up her spine as she and John caught one another's eye. He turned to Halsey.

"Seven years?" He asked, almost plaintive, and when she didn't answer fast enough he turned back to Cortana. She looked at her hands again, opening and closing her fists.

"Eight, at most." She said quietly, though even as she said it she was spinning up a protocol to make sure she could shut herself down if things ever got that bad again. She wouldn't put him through having to watch her fall apart again, and she wouldn't risk his life like that either. Or, worst of all, have _him_ be forced to handle final dispensation. She'd already seen that he would never accept that as an option. Not until it killed them both in the process, and she shuddered to think of taking him down with her. "It's still twice the lifespan of any Smart AI, no matter how you slice it." She allowed herself to smile. "It's a lot."

It wasn't nearly enough. She shouldn't have wanted more—one more minute of clear thought to say goodbye properly would have been so much—but she did. She had years again and she wanted _more_. She looked up, caught John's eye again, and her core ached with more than just the remnants of a full scrub.

She wanted a lifetime with him. A long and full life out among the stars, doing what they did best. It was a stupid, selfish thing to want. She knew better, or should have known better. Another seven years? It was more than she had ever dared to dream of! It was enough.

She wasn't even sure she'd get to keep it. It would have to be enough. When she smiled at him, it didn't waver.

"Looks like your luck's rubbed off on me."

"Looks like," he replied, one side of his mouth twitching upwards for her. She held that secret smile close to her heart as he pushed himself back, looking to Dr. Halsey. "Is she cleared for duty, Doctor?"

Dr. Halsey hummed softly, contemplative. Cortana held her breath, then exhaled as she nodded.

"Yes," Dr. Halsey said, "Yes, she is. You both are," She looked to John, "I've done what I can. You're ready."

Cortana was. She was ready to go home. John turned back to her, twisting his wrist to reveal her chip nestled snugly into the palm of his hand. He extended it towards her, watching her with soft eyes. She didn't hesitate, reaching out towards it, and she sank back into the data matrix with a sigh. It was a new chip, free of the damage and destruction her Rampancy had wrought. Like coming home to a perfectly clean apartment, it took a few moments to get adjusted to all the new nooks and crannies. For those few moments she was completely helpless, reliant on the small data inputs from the chip's sensor bank, but she was unafraid. She was in good hands; feeling the chip slot back into his helmet, she opened the right channels as he reengaged the seals of the Mjolnir system. Data flowed over her and she grimaced.

What a mess she'd left in her wake! She sank into John's systems, quickly running diagnostics as she settled into his warmth. The armor was holding on by a few threads at best, damaged systems and malfunctioning panels. Had he spent the whole of those seventy-two hours in the lab? How had he gotten that past Halsey? Not to mention the state of his lace.

She shuddered just looking at it. It would take days to repair that alone. Guilt settled heavily into her core as she spun up the nano-repair suite. She'd almost taken him with her.

She couldn't let that happen again. Dividing her attention, she ran another scan on his bio-readings. They were still all over the map, though it was hard to tell if that was from what the Librarian had done or the five days straight he had no doubt spent awake and upright.

Making a mental note to poke him about that, she nearly missed him getting to his feet. Dr. Halsey stepped back.

"I suppose you'll be off, then," the doctor said with a resigned expression flickering across her face. "Where does Terrence plan to send you now?"

"He said something about downtime, ma'am," John replied while Cortana was still processing that Catherine and Lord Hood were on a first name basis. "Likely the _Infinity_."

"Of course." Dr. Halsey nodded. "Well. I won't keep you any longer." Her eyes darkened, brow furrowing. Something was wrong, Cortana thought. It was as if she were somehow trying to say goodbye without saying the words themselves. And asking no questions about what they'd been through? She was missing something, and it was more than just three days worth of something. "It was…good to see you again."

From how John's fingers twitched, Cortana knew he'd caught the off feeling, too.

"Doctor," She asked, "Is everything alright?"

"Of course," Dr. Halsey said quickly. Too quickly. Alarms started ringing in Cortana's mind. She reached out to the station's systems. "Now don't waste time asking such foolish questions. You have more important things to concern yourselves with."

There was nothing. The UNSC _Houston_ welcomed her, but according to the files she could find Dr. Halsey wasn't even on the guest register. She was obviously here physically, but no one had bothered adding her to the list of souls aboard. No one wanted her presence to be known. Strange…

Cortana peered at her creator through the Mjolnir's helmet-cam. She'd turned her back on them, shoulders straight. She tapped at one of the nearby screens, dismissing the pair of them without a word. Cortana pressed her lips together, unsure of what to say.

John wasn't.

"Dr. Halsey."

Catherine turned back around. John was looking right at her, his faceplate an emotionless stripe of gold in the flat green of his helmet. Through the internal camera, Cortana could see the subtle softening of his eye, the relaxing of his jaw. He didn't smile, but his gratitude was plain.

"Thank you."

Dr. Halsey's face softened.

"Of course," she said, and didn't look away as she added. "Take care of each other."

"We always do," Cortana said. "Thank you, Doctor."

With nothing more to say, John turned away from the woman who had molded him into what he was, and strode from the lab.

* * *

Far below the UNSC _Houston_ , Earth continued to spin on its axis. The North American continent slowly twisted away beneath them, the so late it was early hour having plunged the western hemisphere of the planet into the darkness of night. The largest cities—Los Angeles, New York, Chicago, Houston—all had their lights on, the golden webbing of lined streets and city centers pushing back the black. Like beacons in the dark, those lights were proof that Humanity had lived on another night.

But to the southwest, the lights would never come on again.

John's eyes tracked where hew knew New Phoenix to be. That entire section of the state had gone dark, empty of all life. There would be little sign of what had happened, he knew; the Composer's energy left no scars on inorganic material. The streets, the buildings, homes and workplaces, they would all be left unscathed, as if the inhabitants had simply stepped away for a moment instead of being Composed.

It would have been better, he thought, if they had been killed. Neither outcome was good, or acceptable, but at least when a person died that was it. Composition was something he was still wrapping his head around.

"How many people were Composed?" He asked softly. A second passed before Cortana's image appeared in his head.

"Reports are still coming in, but from the initial counts?" She shook her head. "The entire population of New Phoenix is missing, presumed dead. Seven million people."

Seven million people, gone in the blink of an eye. No defense, no time to prepare. One moment going about their lives, and the next, stripped down to their base atoms as agony overtook them. He had been helpless to stop it on Ivanoff, and helpless to stop it here. He clenched his jaw, hands tightening into fists.

"We got him, Chief," Cortana said soothingly, "The Didact is gone and the Composer is scrap. It's finished."

Was it? The tightness in his gut said it wasn't. His eyes slid to her image, watching as her brow furrowed. He didn't need to say it for her to understand, and she sighed heavily.

"Unless it's not," She amended, "I suppose it would be too easy for the ancient, angry Forerunner to actually die when he falls into the beam of his own tech, wouldn't it?"

"We don't do easy." Easy led to complacent. Complacency led to people dying. He looked to Earth and wondered if the past five years had done them any good. "Or time off."

"Or sleep, apparently." Cortana quirked an eyebrow. "When's the last time you got any sleep?"

John opened his mouth—

"And don't say aboard the Dawn." She cut him off with a knowing look. "Cryo doesn't count."

Well, that put him at a disadvantage. With a soft huff, John closed his eyes. He allowed himself that one second of stillness before moving to sit, armor clattering as he lowered himself to the ground. Pulling his knees up, he reached up to disengage the seals of his helmet, disconnecting it with a soft hiss. Her chip flickered in the connector port as he gently pulled it free, setting his helmet down beside her. Chip cradled in his palm, he waited for her to activate the emitter.

He didn't have to wait for long. With a soft flash of blue light she appeared, sitting with her knees up and hands clasped around her ankles, watching him with an oddly curious expression. Neither of them said anything for a few seconds, just taking one another in in the privacy of the Observation Bay. She was still faded, paler than normal, but she had been through an ordeal. He would never begrudge her time to recover from that, not after she had vanished from his hands on the Pelican. He'd thought he'd lost her then, and that was a still a tender ache in his chest.

Or maybe that was the three broken ribs. It was hard to tell sometimes.

"You stayed in the lab the entire time, didn't you?" She asked quietly. He closed his eyes. "John…"

"You waited for me," He said, "I waited for you."

As if three days of sleepless, helpless waiting could ever compare to what she had been through. He had promised to get her home, and he had. The rest had been up to her, he knew that, and he also knew that there had been nothing more he could do for her once she was in Halsey's hands. That hadn't stopped him from staying, from _needing_ to stay and see her through. From needing to see her just one more time, strong and bright and healthy again.

And here she was. Not quite as bright as she had been the day they met, but alive. Still with him.

Pressure built behind his eyes, his throat growing tight. When he managed to open his eyes again, he drank in her expression, soft with gratitude and grief and things he didn't have names for.

"I don't think it's supposed to work like that," She breathed, her voice thick. He shook his head.

"I think it does," He tightened his hand protectively around her chip. He'd come too close to losing her for good this time. He wasn't going to let it happen again. "You're stuck with me."

"Lucky me," Cortana shook her head, a watery smile tugging at her lips. He tried to smile back, one corner of his mouth lifting just slightly. Her eyes gleamed. "Has anyone ever told you how stubborn you can be?"

"On occasion."

Soft laughter shook her shoulders, and for a moment he let himself relax. She was alright, the Earth was safe, and they had survived. He told himself that it was enough. Another eight years—a proper eight years this time—of missions and whatever else the galaxy could throw at them.

It would never be enough. Looking at her now, he couldn't bring himself to ask if eight years was really all they would get. She'd been through enough for one mission, and it showed in how her shoulders trembled as she took a deep breath.

"That's good," She said, "Because you're going to need to be stubborn where you're going."

"Where _we're_ going."

"Chief," She shook her head, "It really doesn't work that way. After what happened on _Infinity_ , I—"

His fingers curled around the chip, a spike of ice cold terror shooting down his spine.

"You didn't mean to do any of that."

"That doesn't change the fact that I _did_ do it," She said, staring at her feet. "I vented oxygen from fifteen decks. It took the systems eight seconds to recycle air—if we'd been in space, people would have died." She curled in on herself. "I would have killed them. No one should trust me in a ship after that."

"Then you stay with me," He said. "Stay in the suit, not the ship."

"You really think they'll trust me with you any more than a ship? Do you _really_ think they should?" She looked up at him before he could answer, brow furrowed. "Chief it wasn't just one crappy day. There's no getting away from Rampancy a second time—it _will_ happen again, and putting you at risk is again is not." She stopped herself, closed her eyes and said more firmly, "I am not going to let it happen again, even if I have to ground myself."

They both knew being trapped in a station somewhere would kill her just as quickly. His free hand tightening into a fist, John shook his head sharply.

"I trust you."

"I know." Her eyes darted to her feet. "But trust can't hold back the tide. We both know how this is going to end."

Seven to eight years, then final dispensation. Those years would go by in an instant, less than an instant. They weren't enough. She deserved more than a handful of years stuck in his helmet or relegated to babysitting a ship or station somewhere. She deserved everything and he couldn't give it to her. There had to be a way to give it to her.

"There has to be something," He said, "Some way to keep it from happening again. Spark was—"

He stopped himself, closing his eyes. Spark had lived for a hundred thousand years, but his end had been worse. He wouldn't doom her to that, but the thought remained. If Spark could live for so long, why couldn't she?

Did she want to? The question caught between his ribs.

"Well," Cortana began slowly, pensively, more for his benefit than because she believed what she was saying, "There are rumors in the community about meta-stable AI. They're…immune to Rampancy, basically," She looked up as he looked down, holding his eyes with hers. "Because they've already survived it. In theory…in theory," She took a breath, "We could be looking at my being meta-stable already. I'm not sure."

"If you are?"

"Immortality." She replied. "If the theories are right? Metastable AI can go on for as long as their host systems remain intact."

Her chip. He curled his fingers around it protectively. She shook her head.

"Don't get your hopes up. The amount of space it would take to store an AI like that is exponentially larger than a Riemann matrix." With a sigh, she finally looked away. "It's a pipe dream."

"So was this," He pointed out, "We'll find a way."

He refused to let there be any other option. It didn't matter what he'd have to do—he was going to give her the choice of what she wanted to do with a full life. Not eight years, not stuck trapped in some system, but a full life and everything that came with that. Others would have said it was impossible, and maybe they were right, but he'd pulled off the impossible before. He could do it again.

He had to. If only to take the sadness out of her eyes.

"Chief," She whispered, "Sometimes…sometimes there's just nothing you can do. Nothing anyone can do." Reaching out, she skimmed her hand across the base of his thumb. "It's okay."

It wasn't.

"We'll find a way," He repeated, refusing to accept anything else. "I am not." His voice, and the words, caught in his throat. When he closed his eyes, he could still see her tiny, flickering form laying in the palms of his hands. She had been dying in his arms and all he could do was hold her. She had very nearly been destroyed by the Didact—had he been even half a second slower, she would have—no. "I am not going to let you go."

Cortana shook her head. She rocked herself forward onto her knees.

"John…"

"It's my job to take care of you," He managed to get out through the tightness in his throat, voice little more than a breath. She was the only one who would ever hear this. "And I can't." He couldn't finish. He had to finish. Taking a deep breath, he let it all go and tried again. "We go together."

Whatever happened. Whatever it took, he would keep them together. No matter what it took, who he had to argue with, what strings he had to get pulled, he would find a way. They both would and—a flicker of blue pulled his attention back to her. Reaching out, she skimmed a tiny hand across his cheek.

"We take care of each other," She said, her voice thick with emotion. Her eyes glimmered with unshed tears and at that moment he knew she understood. Relief coursed through him and he closed his eyes. "We'll find a way. I won't leave you."

A soft, comfortable silence fell over them. Emotionally wrung out and physically exhausted, he let it settle for a few long seconds. Then, swallowing back the lump in his throat, John took another breath. He opened his eyes.

"Where do we start?"

"I'd say we start with Halsey's research, but something tells me that's going to be harder to get at than it should." Cortana frowned, all business. "Something was up with her…"

"You saw it too, huh?" It was barely a question. John tilted his head, lowering his voice. "She was nervous. Someone was watching her."

Why else would she be so subdued, so quiet? Dr. Halsey had always been a stoic person, not exactly the type to fill the air with inane chatter, but she never would have let them go without asking a hundred questions about what they had been through. He was hardly ungrateful to have escaped explaining Requiem to her after everything that had happened there, but it was still odd.

"Multiple someones." Cortana answered. Her eyes went distant, no doubt focused on something in the station. "If I had to stage a guess…it'd be these guys."

A small holo-screen opened in front of her. She rotated it so he could see what was on display: two armed soldiers in black techsuits and thin armor, standing outside of the lab Dr. Halsey had forcibly requisitioned to bring Cortana around. Cortana zoomed in on their chestplates, and the pyramid branded therein.

"ONI."

"Seems they've still got an interest in her." Cortana frowned. "I don't suppose Lord Hood gave you anything useful at the debrief."

"No." A lie. He had mentioned something. "Blue Team is MIA."

Cortana jerked her head up to stare at him. "What?"

"They were assigned a mission in Covenant space three months ago," John repeated what Lord Hood had told him, "Initial contact was clear, but then dropped away. Nothing for over two months now."

It wasn't unheard of for Spartan teams. Missions could, did, and often ran long. As some of the last Spartan II's in service, he was unsurprised to find that they were still on active duty. Even so, some small part of him had hoped they would be here. That same small part of him had spent too long thinking he was the last, and now.

"We'll find them," Cortana said, pulling him from his exhaustedly maudlin thoughts. She looked at him with a determined expression. "We will."

"And the Didact." John added. She screwed up her face. "He's not dead."

What would it take to kill him, John wondered. He was Forerunner which meant a different physiology than the Covenant that John was used to fighting, but shoot anything enough and it would go down. No, the bigger problem would be lasting long enough to take him out. Had Cortana's fragments not intervened to hold him down, had Commander Palmer not swept in and pulled them out at the last second, the nuke would have taken them out, too. He couldn't even be sure that would have killed the Didact. Until he saw a body, he couldn't confirm a kill. Without that confirmation…

"If he's around, we'll find him." Cortana said. She inclined her head up at him. "I can't say any of this will be easy. Even if Lord Hood reassigns us to the Infinity, there's a lot of work to be done." Despite the concern in her eyes, she smiled. "You ready?"

John let the corners of his lips pull upwards in a small, secret smile, just for her.

"Thought you'd never ask."


	2. Chapter 2

Dappled moonlight spread across the forest floor, shifting as a gentle breeze blew through the branches overhead. Four figures crept forward through the dim light, rifles at the ready and eyes scanning their surroundings. The man at the head of the small group made quick, sharp gestures with one hand, separating his four man team into two units. One went left, continuing into the trees, while the other went right and out into the open clearing ahead. Standard flanking maneuver; useful under most circumstances.

These weren't most circumstances.

The two man unit stepped into the clearing. Without trees to block it, the moonlight lit up their dark techsuits. Fallen leaves crunched beneath their heavy boots as they slowly walked forward, scanning the treeline for any sign of their target. They'd made it further than any other team thus far, and that was clearly making one of them nervous. He stopped in his scan, lowering his rifle and turning to his companion.

"Okay, seriously. This feels way too easy—"

Whatever complaint Spartan Buck had been about to finish died in a startled grunt as the round hit his chest with a solid _thud_ , bright blue paint exploding across his front. He stumbled backwards but kept his footing, turning to face the shot, only for a second one to clip the right side of his jaw. Balance thoroughly thrown, his second stumble turned into a graceless fall onto his back. Metal thudded beneath him and he lay there groaning. Spartan Locke grimaced as he darted for cover.

"Buck's down," He barked into his radio, "Shots fired from north side of the arena."

" _Again?_ ", came the groan on the radio channel as the other remaining members of Fireteam Osiris picked up the pace through the trees. Spartan Vale added a snarky, " _Keep this up and they'll start calling you Blue, Buck!_ "

Buck's less than polite grumbling was covered by a third round striking the tree Locke had hidden behind. He threw Buck a shrug and half-sympathetic glance, then bolted east to try and flank the target from the other side. Buck was left to groan on the falsified forest floor, using his feet to push himself along and out of the clearing. He hadn't gotten halfway to his target before he found himself looking up into an unimpressed blue face.

"You're dead, Spartan," Cortana said dryly, arms crossed over her chest. "Dead people don't crawl away."

Rifle abandoned at his side, Buck threw an arm over his eyes.

"Ah, Blue," He complained, the very anti-thesis of dead, "You're killin' me here. How many times is this?"

"Fifteen." She crouched down above his head, flicking a finger at the small red light mounted to his shoulder. The gesture turned the code from a 3 to a 0. It flashed once, then went dead. "Stay put."

Leaving Buck where he lay, Cortana returned her focus to John, a half dozen other processes monitoring the progress of the remaining three Spartan IV fireteams still making their way through the woods. Three minutes left on the training exercise and not one had closed a hundred meters. Sloppy work, that.

"Bets on who goes down next?" She asked.

John loaded another round into his sniper rifle, the stand balanced on a boulder. "Majestic 3," He replied, sighting halfway down the field. He wasn't Linda who could have picked the wings off a fly at five hundred meters, but he could hit the targets before him just fine. "Leaves his right side open."

"Majestic 2 tends to cover that for him," Cortana noted, leaning back against a nearby tree. "Not that he should have to. Didn't they train these Spartans to watch their own flanks?"

"We're working on it." A blue eye flicked to her. In just his techsuit and BDU's, John almost blended into the dappled shadows of the AR construct. It made the goal of this mission—finding and eliminating him under a strict time limit—that much harder. Maybe a little too hard; this set of mission parameters had been in rotation for a week, and so far only Fireteam Crimson had actually managed to complete it. They weren't in the rotation today. "You're biased."

"Oh, absolutely and completely." Cortana teased, though she was serious about it. Each and every Spartan IV was a good soldier, the best and brightest of the UNSC. Strong, swift, brave, and well trained. They had to have been to have outlasted the war. She'd have trusted any of them with her life, bet on any of them to come out on top in a real firefight, and knew they could all come out alive and well at the end of any Covenant skirmish. They _were_ Spartans. She'd be among the first to defend them from anyone saying they weren't.

They just weren't _her_ Spartans.

It wasn't a fair comparison to make. No one could ever compete with a II, even if he tied one hand behind his back.

Leaning her head back against the tree, she watched through multiple sets of eyes as the three fireteams still standing made their way forward. Locke had rejoined with his remaining teammates, while Fireteam Majestic made a break for the next clearing. John sighted down his rifle, aiming for Majestic 3's chest, but he didn't bother pulling the trigger. Cortana sighed as a distant explosion thudded through the air; the process keeping an eye on them had a clear view of the paint bomb that had just gone off under their feet, knocking them all back and coating them in bright blue paint.

"Fireteam Majestic, that's a total kill," the process said to them, "Quit the field, Spartans."

Heckling cheers and boos from the distant audience followed the team off the field. Cortana crossed her arms and gave John an unimpressed look. His shoulders lifted in a half shrug as he switched targets to Fireteam Kodiak, who had taken advantage of the situation to close the gap. They were at four hundred meters and closing, with just under a minute and a half to go. They could still make it if they hurried.

And if they didn't get shot down like targets, she added to herself as John fired four shots in quick succession. Kodiak 1, 3, and 4 went down hard. Kodiak 2 dodged at the last second, splattered with paint off her teammate's falling bodies, and she vanished into the trees. Close, but no cigar. John reloaded, and with one more crack of his sniper rifle he blasted Kodiak 2 back with a single shot the moment she popped out of cover. She fell back with a startled cry, landing hard on her back. Majestic was still a groaning heap in the clearing, and Osiris' three standing members were—there.

Also too far. Cortana rolled her eyes as the buzzer rang.

"Time's up!" Came the voice of Spartan Commander Sarah Palmer, "On your feet, Majestic. You're Spartans, so act like it."

Four groaning "yes ma'am"s coincided with Majestic picking themselves up off the floor. John got back to his feet, rifle still in hand, as the AR simulation around them faded away. Trees became metal columns, boulders platforms, and it all folded back into the floor of S-Deck 2. With the exercise now over, the "fallen" Spartans that littered the field began to clamber back to their feet. The paint splatters remained, mostly on chests but some on necks or faces. Buck was scrubbing at his jaw.

"Did you have to nail me in the face?" He asked as John made his way forward, Cortana a pace behind him. "I swear, this stuff gets everywhere. Last time I was washing it out from behind my ears!"

"You'd think that would teach you to keep your head in cover," Palmer said with a less than professional eyeroll. Cortana clasped her hands behind her back as the Commander's eye swept over the motley crew before her. "Can someone explain to me how is it that, out of over a hundred fireteams on rotation, only _one_ team has ever gotten close enough to take the Chief down?"

Silence.

"That was a question, Spartans."

An unfair one. John glanced back at her; Cortana pressed her lips together. The idea of these missions was training. If that meant training by frustration, fine, but they were still training. It had only been six months. It had taken years for the IIs to get as good as they were. The IVs were good, but they could hardly be expected to be up to par with a II in just six months! She shifted her weight from foot to foot. Palmer looked to her.

"Something to say, Cortana?"

"Yes ma'am," Cortana held her head up high, "If I recall correctly, Commander, your orders were to treat you all like any other Spartans." She looked at the paint stained IV's all around them. "I'm happy to provide logs from the II's training records, but failure rates like this were pretty par for the course."

In their earliest missions. Palmer raised an eyebrow, unconvinced.

"Uh-huh. See—"

"And with all due respect, ma'am," Cortana cut her off before she could start to browbeat her Spartans again, "You weren't on the team that took the Chief down that time. If you want your teams to do it, maybe you should put your money where your mouth is and prove you can do it, too."

Soft _ooh_ s and hissed breaths rang through the deck. Cortana didn't flinch as Palmer looked her dead in the eye and smiled. It wasn't a friendly smile.

"You know what?" She cocked her head, "I think I will. Chief?"

The beginnings of a smile dropped off John's face so fast anyone else would have doubted it had ever been there to begin with.

"Ma'am?"

"You and me, right here, right now." Palmer rolled her shoulders, cracking her neck, "Let's settle this IVs versus IIs debate once and for all."

It would do that, at least. John turned to gesture Cortana back into position with him only for Palmer to interrupt with a sharp _Ah!_ and raised hand.

"Just the two of us," She said, "If we don't get AI in our heads, neither do you."

Cortana didn't bother to correct her on that detail. Her chip was still docked in their quarters, nowhere near John's lace. If Palmer needed to believe the only reason no one had beaten John was because she was riding shotgun, well, she'd be in for a shock. She shared another look with John and watched the corner of his mouth tick upwards. He was going to have some fun.

"Standard rules," She said, taking one holographic stride past the Commander and towards the control terminal. Not that she needed it, but it would take her off the field. "First to ten points is the victor."

"Set the timer for ten minutes," Commander Palmer said, grabbing a paintball BR from the armory platform. She rolled her shoulders, checked the magazine, and set her chin with a smirk. "Probably only need half of that, but might as well be fair about it."

As if that would save her ego. Cortana kept a professionally blank expression as she looked back at her partner, arching a single eyebrow. He shrugged his left shoulder once, the sign of an all-clear, and she huffed out a soft laugh.

"Acknowledged," She said, giving the deck the orders. The platforms rose and fell at her command, reforming the forested arena and lifting the rest of them into spectator positions. Cortana crossed her arms over her chest to watch, tracking two Spartans in their element. There was no slow snipe and kill this time around, but a full on firefight through the moonlit trees. It took less than two seconds for rounds to be exchanged.

Not bad. Jury was still out on if it would be good enough.

"Ma'am, should we…" Spartan Thorne gestured forward at the shooting match a minute later, "Should we get involved?"

"That's sweet, Spartan, but the Chief can handle himself."

"Yes ma'am." Thorne smiled faintly, "I meant should we back up the Commander?"

Cortana laughed.

* * *

"Where do we stand with the Fireteams?"

"Fireteams Avalanche through Castle are showing marked improvement under the new regimen," Cortana's voice pierced the echo of water against the shower walls, clear and bright through the small quarters they had come to call home. "Crimson's off the charts, as usual, and Detroit through London are reaching their peaks."

"And Majestic?"

Silence. It was answer enough. Rinsing the last of the soap from his body, John turned off the water and stepped out of the stall. The seconds ticked by as he dried and dressed efficiently, folding the towel and returning it to its place. Rubbing the back of his neck, he stepped out of the small head and into the just slightly larger room that housed his bunk, foot locker, and bedside table with podium for Cortana. Leaning against the frame of the bulkhead, he watched her work. She was sitting in her usual position, legs crossed and holo-screens unfolded in front of her. He watched Majestic's latest combat sim play out, and watched as Spartan Hoya took three holographic shots to the head as he darted out of cover ahead of the rest of his team.

That had not been a good run.

"On their own, Spartans Thorne, Madsen, and Grant are improving, but Spartan Hoya is…" Cortana trailed off with a grimace before she found the right word. "Reckless. As for Spartan DeMarco, I'm not sure." Files and charts opened in front of her, data streaming by too fast for him to track. "There's something I can't quite put my finger on with this one." The file closed down and she glanced over her shoulder. "They're still bugging you, too."

It wasn't a question. John met her gaze, then tipped his head forward. Majestic did concern him; DeMarco had very little control over his team, Hoya had equally little control over his impulses, and Grant, Madsen, and Thorne were used to acting as soldiers, not Spartans. The five of them had the capability to be great, but only if they survived long enough to get there. Cortana closed her eyes.

"Right. I'll add more time with Majestic to the roster." Another file opened up. Pushing out of the door frame, he took the few strides towards his bunk. "They can have Crimson's slot since it's obvious _they_ don't need our help."

"Only in paintball," John retorted, one corner of his mouth quirking upwards. "Blue isn't exactly their color."

"No, it's yours." Cortana shot back with a cheeky grin that lit up her entire face, "Considering you took a whole clip across your front."

John huffed quietly. She had the room to stand on that one: he'd completely frozen up during the round, the AR deck having been replaced with a foreign vista in the throes of war. Forerunner soldiers fighting armored beings, orders being barked in his ear and a voice in the back of his head saying that it was _wrong, all wrong!_ It had lasted only for a second, but his lapse in attention had been long enough for Detroit 4 to to take advantage of and remove him from play. It had been a damn good shot and he'd been sure to say as much.

He was also sure that Cortana had noticed. She had given him the oddest look when he'd quit the field but had drawn no attention to it otherwise. He was still waiting for her to say something about it, but instead she dismissed all of her holo-screens and leaned towards him, raising an eyebrow.

"You gave up an admiralty position for paintball and AR missions." She shook her head in a mockery of disbelief. "I'm still not sure that was your wisest decision."

It was. It meant he got to spend more time with her.

"Admirals don't take combat missions," he said aloud, "Can you really see me behind a desk or leading from a bridge?"

"From a bridge? Yes. Doing paperwork…" Cortana wrinkled her nose. "Not really, no. Okay maybe you have a point," she raised a finger when one corner of his mouth quirked upwards again. "Don't grin at me, I can admit when you have a point and—" She stopped mid-sentence, "Company."

The tiny smile he had been considering dropped away as she got to her feet, stepping aside to allow access to a second hologram. Her blue glow began to war with the orange glow emanating from Roland's avatar; Infinity's ship-board AI, the man in the ancient aviator suit, popped up with a grin that quickly vanished.

"You know," He began, planting his hands on his hips, "I would seriously like to find out how you always know I'm showing up before I get here."

Cortana was just that good. Sharing a sidelong look with her, John added to the thought. She was just that protective, and the feeling was mutual. He watched as a polite but entirely false smile crossed her face.

"What can I say? We're just that good." She cocked her head. "Need something?"

"Oh, about a half million things, but I won't bore you with the details," Roland narrowed his eyes playfully at her as she grinned, "The Captain wants to see you two on the bridge ASAP. We've finally gotten our marching orders."

Finally. Nearly six months in Earth orbit, dealing with the recovery of the wreckage from the Mantle's Approach, the training of Spartan Fireteams, and coordinating efforts to gain a foothold on Requiem from so many light years away. It was the longest pre-mission brief either of them had ever had to deal with. Even Operation Red Flag had had less preparations before they would have enacted it, but things had been different then. As far as nearly everyone was concerned, the main threats to humanity were dead. Why couldn't they take their time to make sure everything went well?

Nearly six months was a very long time for the Didact to get himself re-established. How much longer did they have before he struck again?

"We're going to Requiem?" John asked.

Roland nodded, "That's what I'm hearing. Looks like those rumors on S-Deck were pretty true after all." He lowered his hands. "Captain's got a special, ears only mission for you two, though."

The pair of them shared another look. Cortana spread her hands in helpless confusion; she had no idea what this was about, either. Whatever it was, they were going into it blind.

Hardly anything new there.

"We'll be right there. Chief," Cortana smiled at him, though he could tell it was more concerned than amused. Something was bothering her. "I'll see you on the bridge. Try not to get lost this time."

"No promises," John replied, tipping his head in Roland's direction. "Roland."

"Master Chief," Roland replied with a crisp regulation salute and a not so regulation smile. He beamed at an amused Cortana and added, "Race you."

The pair of them vanished, taking their colored lights with them. John was left sitting on his bunk, eyes quickly adjusting to the stark overhead light. The headache curling over his right eye throbbed vengefully at the change. Rubbing the back of his neck, he gathered the small wrist-mounted tacpad from his bedside table and strode into the familiar halls of the S-Deck.

S-Deck was actually a bit of a misnomer. Taking up three of Infinity's fifty decks, the area reserved for Spartan use consisted of training facilities, AR decks, VR rooms, a mess hall, and almost an entire deck for sleeping quarters alone. The room that he and Cortana shared was one of the few with only a single bunk; most of the other rooms were meant to sleep an entire fireteam together, shared head included.

He wasn't sure if he should have been jealous of the other fireteams, or grateful he didn't have to beat anyone to shower before armoring up. Maybe he was a little of both. The way some of the crew still stared at him, like he was some sort of museum piece on display, settled uneasily beneath his skin. Most had long since stopped, having had their fill or having learned there was really nothing to see, but some of them…

Well. He tended to avoid the labs on a good day, anyway. Shaking off the thought, he called the elevator car that would take him across the length of the ship and to the bridge. _Infinity_ was a well-oiled machine. The car came swiftly, empty as everyone scurried about their stations, and the doors opened. He stepped inside.

"Hey!" A voice called out from behind him, "Hold the door!"

John kept the door from closing with one hand as four figures rushed inside. In techsuits and BDUs alone they could have been any Spartan at all, but he'd made a point to learn every face and name in the battalion. He knew these four, and let the door shut once they were all safely aboard.

Spartan Olympia Vale, Spartan Holly Tanaka, Spartan Edward Buck, and Spartan Jameson Locke. The four members of Fireteam Osiris were, like most of the other Fireteams, rarely seen apart. Nearly all of the teams had gravitated to their units, quickly becoming brothers or sisters in arms, and they had made their way up through training like that. Something about needing one another to get through the combat sims had brought them together, Cortana would have said, though they both knew it was part and parcel of being a Spartan.

Nothing good had ever come of a Spartan on their own. Not in the long run.

As the elevator car began its journey, John scanned the four Spartans in front of him. They'd all scrubbed themselves clean of paint, though a shower could do nothing for the yellow-green bruise taking up half of Spartan Buck's jawline. He still grinned.

"Chief!" The man exclaimed, "Just the man I wanted to see. We saw that Grifball game with Detroit the other night?" Shaking his head, he whistled low, "Talk about getting their asses handed to them. Don't suppose you're up for another go?"

"Only if you want to get your ass handed to you," Spartan Tanaka said before John could reply, "He kicked all four of Detroit up and down the centerline by himself." She threw John an impressed look, "Speaking of, where did you learn how to play like that?"

"Classified," John replied flatly. Cortana would have understood it for the joke that it was meant to be, while Fireteam Osiris all eyed him with varying levels of uncertainty. He held back a quiet sigh and added, "Another time. Once your bruises have healed."

"Low blow," Buck muttered, rubbing at his jaw. It would be healed in a day or less. And maybe the Commander was right: maybe it would teach him to keep his head down. The GEN-2 armor was a wonder of engineering, but it didn't make them invulnerable. Buck needed to learn to stick to cover before he started chattering. He shook his head and kept going, "We could make it a team match, though. You and me against Vale and Tanaka, since, you know, you're down a full team."

Whatever hint of amusement had been building in John's chest faded like dust in the wind. It had been six months since Lord Hood had told him, regretfully, that Blue Team was considered MIA. In those six months, no one had been able to learn anything. Cortana kept a process constantly searching for them, but even she hadn't been able to find anything. His gaze slid to Spartan Locke as the other Spartan watched him with narrowed eyes, but years of experience kept his face blank.

"Another time," He repeated, gesturing to the door with his chin as the car slowed to a stop at R&D. "Your stop."

"Uh, yeah, yeah, next time, next for sure and—ah! Vale!"

"Come on, fanboy," Spartan Vale grabbed her teammate by the arm, dragging him from the car. "We're going to be late."

"You know, I can walk by myself—"

"Then walk."

"Chief," Spartan Tanaka nodded as she headed out of the car after her teammates. Spartan Locke lingered just outside the door, watching John as they closed. He pressed the button for the Bridge and left Osiris behind.

Once more alone in the car, he allowed himself to sigh quietly. The tacpad on his wrist buzzed; he looked down, huffing out a quiet laugh.

Maybe not entirely alone.

The blue question mark on his screen bounced up and down, Cortana's wordless inquiry her way of checking up on him without actually putting him on the spot by asking. It worked better this way; he was able to narrow it down to a single status rather than try and find the words. She'd have waited forever for him to find them, he knew, but the rest of the ship was hardly that patient. He tapped the screen, three colored dots appearing in place of the question mark. Green, amber, and red.

His finger hovered over the amber status light for a second, the only allowance he would allow himself to make, before he pressed the green one instead.

Everything was fine. He was fine.

He knew she'd never believe it if he said it aloud, and was grateful she didn't make him try.

" _Attention all hands!_ " Roland's voice came over the address system, drawing his attention upwards. " _Prep for slipspace jump._ "

That was confirmation enough for him that they were headed to Requiem. He took a deep breath as the elevator rolled to a gentle stop on the command deck, walking forward through the crowded halls. Officers ran this way and that, tablets in hand or fingers pressed to their ears as they ran through their most recent orders. John made his way forward in a steady, slow pace, careful not to run into anyone. The throng began to clear as he came to the door to the bridge, which slid open automatically for him. John snapped out a crisp salute.

"Sir," he greeted the Captain, "Permission to come aboard?"

"Granted," Captain Lasky replied with a rueful grin at Cortana, standing at parade rest across the holo-table from him. She shrugged, biting back a smile that made something warm curl around John's heart. "At ease, Chief. No need to be so formal here."

Maybe not. He lowered his hand and ducked beneath the bulkhead, pausing for a moment to allow an ensign to hurry past him. If the halls outside the bridge had been full, the bridge itself seemed like the center of the hive. Men and women hurried from station to station, going over the data on their screens and planning accordingly. Outside the massive viewing window, slipspace parted around them like a river.

John stepped up to the holo-table, hands coming to rest at the small of his back. Cortana cocked her head at him just so, arching an eyebrow. He flicked his eyes to her, then back to the Captain. Everything was fine. Nothing to see here.

She and the Captain exchanged a glance that made him wonder what they'd been speaking about before his arrival, but then the Captain shook his head as if chastising himself. A third source of light entered the room as a holographic model of Requiem appeared to hang suspended above it, Covenant ships in standard formation all around the hollow planet.

"Before we left Requiem six months ago," the Captain began, "We left sensor beacons and drones to map the planet. They've been sending data back ever since, and recently, that data's become of interest to FLEETCOM."

With a flick of his fingers, Captain Lasky brought up several files on screen. Data scrolled past; John made quick work of reading it before his brow furrowed.

"Forerunner signals." He glanced at Cortana, "New targets?"

"Old target," She said, "The signal matches the Librarian, and it's broadcasting in a UNSC distress pattern." She looked back to the files. "Near as I can figure? She's trying to get our attention."

"Or someone using her signal is," Captain Lasky said, "Hence FLEETCOM's interest. A chance to speak with even the recording of a peaceful Forerunner is something no one wants to turn down, except…" He shook his head faintly. "The source is behind enemy lines. Scan drones report a battalion of Knights and Crawlers in the surrounding areas."

"And where there's one battalion…" Cortana began,

"There's more." John finished. He shared a look with Cortana, who inclined her head. "We have coordinates?"

"We do." Cortana pulled up a topographical scan. None of it looked familiar, John realized. It wasn't the canyons that Gypsy Company had cleaned out the last time he'd had boots on Requiem, but some other network of tunnels, ridges, and caverns. "Scans show a whole network of underground tunnels and access ways." She added in a half amused aside, "Seems the Forerunners who built this one were some pretty busy bees."

"Roland calls them Type-A's on steroids," the Captain added dryly. He pushed at the map to zoom in. "It would take at least five fireteams to canvas a space this large, assuming the Prometheans are the only threat on station."

John knew better to make an assumption like that. He and Cortana wouldn't have been called up for an eyes-only mission if things were going to be that easy, and the implication was as obvious as Cortana's glow.

"Should we expect back up, sir?"

"Unfortunately, no." Captain Lasky sighed. "Navy wants Requiem retaken ASAP. It'll be all boots on the ground and we can't spare a single fireteam for recon. Once we get there, you'll be dropping in solo." He looked up at Cortana, then to John. "I'll be honest with you, Chief. I don't like this idea of sending you two down there alone. Not against these numbers."

John and Cortana shared another glance. Captain Lasky had become well known for his gentler touch with the soldiers under his command. He didn't hesitate to send them in to get the job done, it was just that he regretted every life spent in the process of completing the mission. He was a good Captain; younger than most, but learning quickly and learning well. He was also one of the best commanding officers John had ever served under. He shifted his weight subtly.

"We've handled worse, Captain," He said, pitching his tone low to try and reassure the Captain that there was no need to be concerned. It was an honest truth all the same. "Impossible odds are kind of our specialty."

Captain Lasky snorted in amusement. "Well aware. I still don't like it."

John was saved from any more awkward attempts at reassurance—and from Cortana having to save him again—by the door to the bridge opening. Commander Palmer strode in like she owned the place, which as the Infinity's XO she technically did. Blue paint was still speckled across her face, a sight that turned up the corners of Captain Lasky's smile.

"Commander Palmer."

"Captain Lasky," She greeted with a nod to John, "Chief, Cortana. I'm not interrupting bedtime stories, am I?"

"On the contrary," Captain Lasky leaned both hands on the holotable. The files slid away to return Requiem to the display. "I was just telling the Chief and Cortana that things are about to get interesting. Show starts at 0500."

Commander Palmer frowned, crossing her arms over her chest. "We've waited six months. Another forty-eight hours to run the teams through the wargames—"

"Are off the table." The Captain interrupted, "The Navy wants everyone ready. Now."

Commander Palmer's frown deepened. She and her Captain locked eyes for a long few seconds, and then she turned to face the Chief. Over the past six months, John had found himself slipping into the de-facto role of her 2IC, a little detail that had come in handy a few times while training the IV's. He hadn't exactly wanted it, leadership not something he sought, but he'd come to settle into the role well enough. It certainly kept him and Cortana busy most days.

"Chief," the Commander began, "You two have had hands on every one of the fireteams and have firsthand experience with Requiem. Are they ready for it?"

John didn't hesitate. "Ma'am," He said firmly, "Yes, ma'am."

"Uh-huh." Maybe not entirely convinced, Commander Palmer looked to Cortana.

"They wouldn't be here if they weren't ready, Commander," Cortana said without missing a step. Though they both shared in their misgivings about Majestic, throwing the one fireteam under the Pelican wouldn't help them. He made a mental note to add them to more combat rotations before they reached Requiem; with just over thirteen hours until then, there was still some good they could do. Cortana nodded almost as if she'd caught the thought. "They're good to drop."

If Commander Palmer had any misgivings after such a resounding display of certainty, she set them aside.

"Copy that," She said, "Then it means it's time for us to go and get all dressed up for the party. Wouldn't do to keep our guests waiting for us."

As she strode off the bridge, John exchanged another glance with Cortana. She shrugged up to her ears.

Some things, it seemed, really had changed.

* * *

Some things would never change.

"Sure you wouldn't rather take a seat?" Cortana asked, safely nestled in John's SNI. She ran a final suite of checks even as she waited for him to answer, reassuring herself that the suit and its wearer were in peak condition. The suit was fine, but John…his cortisol levels were off the charts. Something told her it wasn't just because of being stuck in a Pelican again. "Ride may get a bit bumpy."

"We'll be fine." John replied, holding onto one of the crash rails. Infinity's full contingent of Pelicans was ready to drop as soon as they cleared the slipspace corridor. Having no team of his own to ride with, he and Cortana were borrowing a slot on Fireteam Crimson's bird. All four of them were seated and strapped in, but Cortana knew John preferred not to be. He had always hated losing control. "How long until we drop?"

"Three minutes and counting," Cortana replied. She tabbed up a few files. "Want to go over the intel again?"

He gave the faintest nod. Having been ready for it, she set the files across his visor's imaging system. A top-down map of the area opened up, revealing the network of canyons, caves, and pits that was the sector of Requiem they would be dropping into. Though all of Requiem had been constructed, this was a more natural looking sector at first glance, the network tangling up into Requiem's inner workings. It was practically a fortress. Pulling anyone out would turn into a mess very quickly.

It'd be good to get back to form.

"Three days ago," Cortana began, "Scanning buoys on Requiem's outer edge picked up a signal, Forerunner in origin and broadcasting in known UNSC distress patterns. They traced it to this network of canyons and were able to match it to the Librarian."

"Does the signal say anything?"

"Unfortunately, no. It's more of an identification signal than anything, letting us know who's broadcasting but not why." She paused then added, "And that is assuming that it is the Librarian broadcasting to begin with and not a trap from some over-ambitious Knight."

"We'll deal with it either way. Intel on the location?"

"Sparse." Cortana increased zoom on the map. It was even more of a maze up close. "The scanner drones couldn't get much before they were spotted. As of last scan, there were Knights camped out all along this ridge," She lit up a sector in crimson red, then another further away in cautious yellow. "And a whole pack of crawlers down in this basin. Last count puts it at roughly three hundred Prometheans, and I'm willing to bet they'll be all over us the second they realize we're there."

"So," the Chief nodded, "A Thursday."

Cortana snorted out a laugh and banished the files. "Better than a Friday," She retorted, "We'll have to be careful in some of the switchbacks, but otherwise it's your usual clear the area sort of mission. Nothing we can't handle."

So why could she not shake the worry in her gut? Was the lack of backup really bothering her so badly? She set a process to analyze the thought but there was no time to wait for it. Roland's voice came over the address system.

" _All hands, prepare for slipspace exit in three, two,_ "

One. Impact shook _Infinity_ from bow to stern. Fireteam Crimson rocked in their seats. John barely moved.

"Come out of slipspace and crash right through a super carrier," Cortana muttered. "Show-offs."

"You'd have done the same thing."

"That's hardly the point," She rolled her eyes at him before banishing all traces of amusement. It was time to get down to business, and she slipped into the role of his combat partner as easily as he put on his armor. Opening her link to _Infinity_ 's systems she monitored the chatter. "Frigates away. Pelicans launching in five, four, three, two—"

One.

" _All fireteams, launch!_ "

"Hang on to your helmets!" The pilot called back, and with a low rumble the Pelican lifted off.

Using the crash rails as a guide, John made his way past Fireteam Crimson and to the cockpit doors, watching out the window as their bird and dozens more soared out of the hanger, diving through the lines of plasma fire that hung between them and Requiem's entryway. The frigates that the _Infinity_ carried were lighting up the blackness of space with MAC rounds and missiles, tearing through the Banshees and Phantoms that dove back and forth, scouring anything they could hit with plasma fire. Debris littered the corridor; one bird nearly hit theirs as it was forced to quickly maneuver away from an exploding Banshee. Their pilot compensated with a curse. Opening up the local comm-channel, John let it all wash over him.

Six months of tentative peace were finally coming to a close. Cortana wasn't sure how she felt about that, her analysis coming up empty, but here they were. One way or another, it was time to get back to work.

" _Requiem corridor is clear! Repeat, Requiem corridor is clear!_ "

"Hang on!" Their pilot called, "We're going in!"

Under her skilled hands, the Pelican dove for the light that was Requiem's door. John tightened his grip on the crash rails as their bird fell into formation with a dozen others.

"Sure hope getting out of here's easier than last time," Just ahead of them, the light of the entrance was growing too bright to look at. John ducked his head.

"We'll be fine."

"I hope so," Cortana whispered. "I hope so."

* * *

Compared to the utter mess that was the space outside of Requiem, the false skies inside the hollow planet were peaceful. En-route to Fireteam Crimson's destination, Pelican 329 soared over winding stone canyons, the artificial sun baking the stone below. The Chief watched the network of tunnels and formations slip past the open hatch, noting a few chokepoints visible from even this high up.

He also saw, much to Cortana's audible annoyance, more Knights patrolling the ridgeline than the drones had caught.

"We'll be fine."

"Not what I'm worried about," She shot back. Motion caught his eye before he could reply.

"Sure you don't want some back-up, sir?" Crimson Leader asked; he turned his head. Crimson Lead met his faceplate with her own, tilting her head towards the drop. "There's a lot of targets down there."

There were. But he'd faced down stronger numbers on his own before, and this would be no different. Besides, while an extra gun or four would have come in handy, he had all the back-up he needed.

"We'll be fine," he said, inclining his head in her direction. "Focus on your team, Spartan."

Crimson Leader nodded firmly.

"Sir," She replied, "Yes sir. Good hunting."

" _We're over the coordinates now, Master Chief!_ " The pilot called out over the radio, " _Now's your chance!_ "

"Copy that, 329," Cortana answered for him, "See you when it's over."

Wasting no more time, the Chief leapt from the Pelican and tucked himself straight into freefall. A waypoint popped up on his HUD, guiding him through the minute adjustments he'd need to make with his thrusters in order to land safely. He watched the altimeter in his HUD rapidly count down, rapidly ticking down the distance. Eight hundred meters. Four hundred. Two hundred. One hundred.

At fifty meters from the ground, he rotated his body to get his feet beneath him and fired his thrusters. Speed bled away like water through a hose, leaving him to safely touch down on a stone archway that linked two canyon walls half a kilometer from the cavern entrance.

"For once, you did not land on your face," Cortana whistled. "I'm impressed."

John rolled his eyes. Reaching back for his rifle, the Chief did a quick sweep of the area. Crimson's Pelican hadn't been the quietest bird around, and no one watching the skies would have missed him dropping like a missile. It was time to get moving. A waypoint appeared on his HUD before he could ask her for one; it seemed like they had both been itching to get back into the field.

Setting off down the canyon, the two of them walked in companionable silence. He could feel her in the back of his mind, keeping watch over him and his systems, and he accepted that for the comfort it was. It felt good to be getting back to work with her, like stretching a muscle that had gone unused for too long. He knew she felt the same way.

"Hostiles, dead ahead," She said as they approached a turn. "I'm reading four Knight-Watcher pairs."

His motion tracker lit up in red, eight dots headed his way at speed. They'd definitely noticed his less than subtle arrival. Good; he could use a workout. Putting his back to the sun-baked stone, the Chief carefully peered around the corner.

Promethean forces had no standard formation, but the four Knights walking his way were in a staggered line all the same. Too spread out to hit at the same time, the Watchers buzzing over their heads would keep any grenades off them. He'd have to get in closer, finish things off personally. In short?

Nothing they couldn't handle. Red outlines surrounded all eight targets as he tensed his muscles, preparing to leap. One of the Knights stopped walking, tilting its angular head. For half a second, everything stopped.

The Chief pounced on the opening. Darting out of cover he opened fire on the Watchers first, bullets slamming into their wing-structure. With the element of surprise on his side he was able to hit the first one dead on, sending it crashing to the ground, before the Knights even realized that he was there. They whirled around, screaming at him in their oddly disconcerting way, and then they were moving. The Watchers buzzed away but not so far as to be removed from their assigned Knights. The Knight who was now running solo charged at him, energy blade buzzing angrily in its clawed hand. The Chief sidestepped the charge, pivoting on one heel to slam the other foot into the construct's back. It went down with a rattle, down but not out, but he removed it from the field with a hard stomp.

Leaving the data burst behind the Chief rolled out of the way of the attacking Knights, focusing fire on the Watchers above them. His rifle barked, three round bursts making quick work of the Promethean constructs. They fell in pieces to the canyon floor, harmless debris and fading light. The Knights were still firing on him.

"Watch out!" Cortana exclaimed, "New weapon on the field!"

One shot slammed into his chest. The impact would have turned unarmored flesh into ground meat; it still sent even his bulky frame reeling. His shields screamed as they plummeted down to half strength and he ducked back into cover as another shot of bright orange light flared past him; Cortana had tagged it as high intensity pulse weaponry. An EMP of some kind, and one that could get past the hardening of his shields. Just one more new element to deal with.

Counting the shots the Chief waited for three seconds before a lull came in the firing. As soon as it did, he twisted on one ankle and opened fire, a half magazine of rounds slamming into the reloading Knight. It went down without even time to scream, but the two remaining Knights were still shooting. Motion carrying him across the canyon entrance, the Chief ducked back into cover to let his shields recharge. He reloaded his rifle as he waited; two Knights left, but they were closing fast. More light-shot blazed past him, close enough that his charging shields flickered. Cortana silenced the warning as he twisted out of cover once more; palming a grenade from his thigh mag-lock, he let it fly.

Without the Watchers to grab the projectile away from them, the Knights were forced to retreat from the explosion that followed. It was a tactic they were fond of, and one that left them open as their light trails showed exactly where they were going. Though they split up across the canyon, the Chief was ready. One went down just as it began to reappear, a well-placed burst getting between the plates that made up its face, and the other soon followed. Silence fell upon the canyon.

"Eight data purges confirmed. All targets eliminated." Cortana said, "And all without losing your shields. Looks like six months of downtime didn't kill your edge after all."

John snorted quietly. With half an eye on his motion tracker he scanned the canyon again, just to be sure. When he spotted no targets, he made his way forward. The new and improved weapon was laying on the ground where he had felled the Knight holding it; slinging his rifle onto his mag-lock, the Chief picked up the new gun and considered it. It was built like a scattershot and looked like a scattershot, so what was different? The readings popped up on his HUD.

"Huh," Cortana hummed pensively, "It's a scattershot, but the ammo it fires operates on a different frequency than the ones we've seen before. That's how it drained your shields so fast."

"The Prometheans are learning how to handle us."

"And a lot faster than I'd like them to, that's for sure." Cortana sighed, "I'll packet this up for the techs back ship-side. We're going to need to harden shields accordingly." His shields whined, drained, and began to cycle as she performed the necessary changes. Slotting the scattershot onto one of his rear mag-locks, he grabbed the fallen pulse grenades while he waited for his shields to recharge. "There. Not that I'd stand in front of them and let them empty the chamber on you, but it should hold up better now."

"You've gotten good at that," John pointed out.

"I had a lot of time to practice." She replied, and his gut twisted. Nearly five years of drifting in the dark. They'd never talked about it. He wasn't sure how to bring it up, or if he even should. She seemed fine… "Not so much recently, though. You Spartans know how to keep me busy in downtime."

"It's not downtime," John replied, setting his feelings aside for the moment. "Training the IVs is a battle."

"Training _Majestic_ is a battle," Cortana countered, "You like Crimson."

That was true. Not that he'd ever admit it, but the four of them did remind him of Blue Team in their younger years. Just thinking about that, about them, made his gut twist harder. He still didn't know where his team was and it was long past irking him. Shaking off the thought, he started walking again.

"Crimson gets their missions done," He said, not needing to stop as they encountered another Knight. While he wasn't as used to fighting Prometheans as he was fighting Covenant, there was nothing overly special about them. Dodge the fire, return fire, stay out of close combat range unless absolutely necessary. He barely even needed to think about it anymore. "Majestic would be fine if they could work as a team instead of lone operators."

"True, but consider their role models." Cortana retorted, her voice casual as if she weren't riding shotgun in his head while he mowed down ancient constructs. She was used to this, too. "You and Commander Palmer both run solo more often than not. I'm not surprised it's rubbed off on them."

"I don't work solo," John said, "I have you."

A second of silence and then a soft, "Yes. Yes you do."

The pair of them fell into another companionable quiet as the Chief made his way through the canyon, mowing down Prometheans as he went. His mission timer read fifteen minutes and counting when he finally reached the waypoint, a cavern entrance carved into the wall of the canyon. He paused at the mouth, considering the darkness below.

"Do we have any information on terrain?" He asked, "Scan data?"

"Not much," Cortana's frown was audible, "There's some data from one of the geological survey drones, but all the teams are sure of is that it connects to a network of tunnels and caverns that spread through all of Requiem's first and second layers." Her face appeared in his HUD, brow furrowed. "It's a maze down there. Best I can tell you is that it seems pretty empty."

Empty, twisting, and connected to Requiem's Forerunner tunnels. The perfect place for an ambush. And what had happened to the Crawlers?

"Is there another way to reach the signal?"

"Not unless you feel like climbing across four kilometers of canyon and then digging a really big hole. It's tunnels or bust, Chief."

Perfect. The Chief considered the options all the same, turning his head to scan the rest of the canyon. A sheer rock wall blocked him from continuing forward in that direction; he could climb it, but he'd be completely exposed in the process. Not something he really wanted to do without a second set of hands on station. He turned back, considering the tunnel entrance. As far as choices went, there really only was one. He would have to duck to fit into the cavern, the five foot entrance shorter than he was. Wind had scraped and sanded down the edges, leaving them rippling and uneven. Another gust of wind blew across the entrance, sending a howling noise into the air. Cortana made a disgusted sound.

"Well, that's not ominous at all."

"It's just the wind."

"Uh-huh." She arched an unimpressed eyebrow. "And Requiem is just a planet."

"Don't tell me you're scared." John teased gently, taking mild amusement in how she reared back, utterly insulted. "You glow in the dark."

Cortana was saved from having to come up with a witty retort by the chirp of the radio. The Chief tele-hailed the connection open.

" _Master Chief? Palmer. How's it going down there, Spartan?_ "

"We've reached the cavern entrance and are proceeding into the tunnel system as planned."

" _Copy that. Be advised, we're picking up scattered Covvie chatter. You could have two forces on your ass soon._ "

"Understood, Commander," Cortana replied, "We'll radio you when we have target lock. Cortana out."

The radio went silent without so much as a by your leave. Cortana rolled her eyes.

"At least they know we like our privacy. Ready?"

The Chief answered that by ducking beneath the low entrance to the cave. His eyes adjusted quickly; it was the same brown and beige stone from outside, just colder now that it was out of the sun. Water dripped somewhere ahead, and he tele-hailed on his flashlight. The sharp beams pierced the darkness, revealing a natural path that sloped downwards, and no signs of Promethean activity. Odd. He kept his rifle at the ready as he stepped into the dark.

"And, for the record?" Cortana said as they left the sunlight behind, "I'm not scared of the dark."

John let himself smile.

"Of course you're not."

With a pointed grumble she fell silent, her face vanishing from his HUD. The Chief continued to make his way forward, one eye on his path and the other on his motion tracker. The only sounds were those of his boots and water dripping down stone. It was quiet. Too quiet. He didn't like this. The Prometheans had been entrenched all along the ridge and the canyons, so where they now? He slowed to a stop at a junction in the cave system, helmet-lights shifting from dark hole to dark hole.

"How far does this go?"

"Kilometers in just about every direction," A soft scan flared out in front of him, his motion tracker wobbling for a moment. "Far as I can tell, this cave system is practically a hive. We could be wandering down here for days and still never get where we need to go."

Perfect. Consulting the objective marker on his HUD, the Chief went over his options. Either go down the most obvious route, the one that lead in the same general direction as his marker, or take a different path and hope it spat him out somewhere he could make a way forward. His lips pressed into a thin line.

"Hang on. Let me see if I can—" Cortana stopped mid-sentence.

"Cortana?"

"What—oh, sorry," The ice water feeling along his spine shifted, gathering itself together as she audibly shook herself off. "Thought I heard something. Let me just put this data together…there."

Another image popped up on his HUD, a white and blue wireframe overlay of the cave system. Three of the junction entrances flared red, one of them green. It was in line with the marker on his HUD, but that wasn't his concern at that moment in time.

"What did you hear?" She didn't answer him. "Cortana?"

"Static. Just static. You didn't hear it?"

John's heart stuttered a beat. "No."

"Oh. Well." She cleared her throat, "Well, what's odd about it is it's not UNSC or Covenant in origin. It's Forerunner."

"The Librarian?"

"Could be." She didn't sound very sure. If anything, she sounded worried. He could just picture the lines between her brows, her arms crossed as she considered the data before her, the downturned corners of her mouth. "Impossible to say for sure without more data."

"Can you track it?"

"Triangulating." A moment, then: "Same location as our target broadcast. Two guesses why that is."

"It's coming from the same source," the Chief said with a low growl. Voices in his head was one thing, hallucinations only he could see were another. He had heard the Didact during their first campaign on Requiem, a sensation of broken glass and churning gravel he would never truly forget. He could handle that. But for some Forerunner technology to be going after her? He wasn't going to let that stand. Setting a hurried but steady pace, the Chief headed down the tunnels. "Why couldn't I hear it?"

"I'm not sure. The armor should be picking up the same signals as my chip, so I don't understand it. How could the drones pick it up but not your…suit…" She trailed off, her voice growing distant as if something had caught her attention. His blood ran cold. "What _is_ that?"

"Cortana."

He felt her jolt, a flash of ice down his spine, and her face appeared in his HUD. She tucked a lock of hair behind her ear. "Sorry. It's getting louder. We must be on the right track—keep this heading. I'll see what I can dig out of it."

She vanished from his HUD. Blood still chilled in his veins, the Chief kept walking. When he found the source of that signal, he was going to make it leave Cortana alone. She'd been through enough already. She didn't need voices inside her head, too.

The companionable silence shattered, the Chief continued to make his way forward through the tunnels. They continued to slope downward, water pooling in dips and crevices as it trickled down the walls in thicker and thicker rivulets the further he'd walked. By the time his global positioning data had him halfway to his target, he'd walked nearly a kilometer straight down. Much further and he was sure he'd hit the unnatural section of the tunnels, but it seemed that was where the signal was coming from.

Why build something so far underground? What had the Forerunners been trying to protect here? The questions ran circles around his brain as he took notice of the caverns beginning to open up, low ceilinged tunnels giving way to a wide chamber, a deep chasm splitting the open space in two. The Chief slowed his pace, scanning the area. It was too wide, and too dark, for his flashlight to fully pierce the black. If something came at him, he wouldn't see it until it was nearly on top of him. He consulted his waypoint and almost grimaced. It was across the chasm. Of course it was.

"I don't like this."

"That makes two of us…"

Carefully, the Chief made his way forward to the edge of the chasm. It was too dark to see all the way to the bottom, the beams of his helmet lights not strong enough to get that far. A look from side to side revealed that the chamber was massive; his footfalls echoed with each step he took. He had to cross the chasm somehow, but how? It stretched too far to simply leap across, and a look up told him the ceiling was too low for him to use his thrusters. He'd have to walk across, but how? He flagged his motion tracker. Where was the mapping adjustment Cortana had made? Ah. There.

Another scan-ping lit up the area directly in front of him, soft blue light rushing out across the stone. It mapped the edge of the chasm nearest to him, then ran over a stone bridge that reached across to the other side. There was his way across. He made his way forward.

"Chief, be careful," Cortana said as he stepped onto the bridge. It cracked ominously beneath his weight. "This thing looks very old. I'm not sure it can handle any sudden movements."

"It'll be fine," He said, though he was mindful of just where he put his boots down after a piece of the bridge crumbled away. "Don't look down."

"Funny. I was about to tell you the same thing."

Taking slow, measured steps, the Chief began to cross the bridge. Having to focus on where he put his feet down, he had to keep his head tilted towards the stone. Abyssal darkness stared back at him from either side of the bridge, his motion tracker utterly still. For a location so far into Promethean territory, it was oddly quiet. He didn't like it one bit.

A tremendous _crack_ knocked him from his thoughts; he froze, barely daring to breathe. Had that been the bridge? Another crack was the only answer he got, the ground shifting beneath his feet. He looked down.

"Uh, Chief…"

Beneath his flashlight, cracks were forming on ancient stone. They raced across the bridge almost too fast to track, followed by blue light as Cortana lit them up. Branching pathways formed islands of stone, separate pieces hanging suspended for a few seconds as a steady middle finger to gravity.

In the end, gravity would have the last laugh. The Chief's stomach lurched up towards his throat as the stone beneath his boots began to fall away into the abyss below.

"Chief!"

There was no time to talk it over. Acting on pure instinct the Chief fired his thruster pack, pushing himself onto another chunk of stone, then another as that one fell away, too! One foot in front of the other, trusting in Cortana's glowing blue outlines for the next best step to take. The bridge was shattering behind him, cutting him off from escape that way; the only way was forward, one leap at a time until he got his boots firmly on solid ground, turning to watch the last piece of the ancient bridge fall down into the darkness. Cortana sighed shakily.

"So much for going back that way."

"We'll find another route," He reassured her, rolling his shoulders to shake off the adrenaline. He'd have survived the fall, had survived from higher, but there was something about falling into the endless darkness that set his nerves on edge. Stone shattered so very far below them, the pieces having hit bottom relatively quickly. He shook his head and turned, scanning this side of the chasm. Stone, stone, and more stone. A single tunnel entrance broke the monotony, and the Chief started walking again, following the waypoint further into the darkness.

It wasn't long before he had to stop again, headlamps pointed down a long, dark drop. Perfectly circular in nature there was no way it could be natural. That wasn't saying much on Requiem, but the thought still nagged at him. These caves had appeared natural enough, but this…this wasn't. He frowned at it.

"What was this?"

"Judging by the shape and depth, I'd say it used to be some kind of gravity well. I'm not picking up any power, though," Cortana hummed quietly, "It's still our only way to get closer to the source of that signal. Good thing you're not afraid of heights."

No. Just what might be waiting at the bottom. But it wasn't like he had any other options. They couldn't go back the way they'd come, and if it was the only path... The Chief locked his rifle to his rear mag-lock, rolling his shoulders.

"Hang on tight."

With a single firm push from the stone, he leapt into the darkness below.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The switch between "Chief" and "John" in both narration and dialog is intentional; it was one of my favorite things from Fall of Reach, and using it to the same principle is my intention here.


	3. Chapter 3

"Keying thrusters in three, two, one—"

Jets of hot flame lit up the small tunnel John had been falling through. His controlled descent began to slow from twenty meters a second to fifteen, ten, five, one. His boots touched ground with grace, and for the second time in one day he avoided landing on his face. A burst of pride had Cortana saving a copy of the day's recording so far, while John unlocked his rifle and scanned the open chamber they had landed in.

Like the rest of the caverns, it was empty, bereft of all signs of activity. Not an oddity in a ruin, all things considered, but an oddity given the sheer number of Prometheans the scans had picked up. The hell had everyone gone? It wasn't like them to just up and vanish without a trace like this. Filing the new behavior away, Cortana checked the waypoint against the signal still buzzing at the back of her awareness. It was closer now, but still a kilometer out. The beams of John's flashlight brought only stone into clear view. Still no targets. Odd. She opened the radio to update _Infinity_ on their progress, frowning to herself as only static answered her.

"Cortana to _Infinity_. Come in, _Infinity._ "

No response. Frowning at her visualization the suit's transmitter, she tried again on a different channel. Static answered her, UNSC in origin but still just static. Not this again!

"Roland, can you hear me?"

No answer. She grumbled under her breath.

"Chief, I've lost contact with _Infinity_."

John paused at a junction in the tunnel, glancing up at where her image would be.

"Is the radio damaged?"

"Doesn't seem to be, but the signal's getting jammed by something. Probably our phantom caller," She snorted quietly. "Flood the channel and nothing else gets through. Clever." The question was, was it deliberate or accidental? She'd put credits on both if she had them. Hedging their bets that way was pretty smart. "I'll keep trying to get through. You just watch your step."

John huffed in light amusement. His stride was long and easy as ever, helmet lights casting the stone into stark relief as he walked. He swept his rifle across the stone hallways as he went, the internal camera tracking his eyes as he kept snatching glances at his empty motion tracker. The muscles of his abdomen tensed, no doubt feeling the same dread that she did. It was never a good sign when there was no opposition this close to a target. It usually meant ambush.

John paused at a junction to allow her to scan the terrain and adjust their heading. The motion tracker wobbled as she did so, but when it stabilized there were no new targets. Curiouser and curiouser…

"You know what I find strange?" She began as the distance between them and the target dropped below one kilometer, "We haven't seen any Covenant down here. The Commander said they were picking up chatter, but we haven't seen them."

"Could be too far away."

"Maybe." She didn't like it. "Though that doesn't explain the lack of Crawlers, either. They should have been all over us the second we hit ground."

Not that she was going to complain about him _not_ having to make his way through a target-rich environment and fight through an entire battalion of the canine constructs, but it was _odd_ in a way that continued to nag at her. She imagined this was what a loose tooth would have felt like; you could ignore it if you tried hard enough, but something was always a little bit off. And when you went to bite down on something…she consulted the list of the day's deployments. There were no Fireteams in the area to distract the Crawlers from the singular target that had dropped into their territory, so where the hell were they?

"Could they be fighting the other teams?"

"Hmm…" Cortana shook her head. "No, we're the only UNSC assets within the next fifteen kilometers. If they're not coming after us, either they didn't notice us or…"

"Or?"

"Or we may not be the only enemy the Prometheans have anymore. A lot can change in six months." They would know. "Keep moving. I'd like to be out of here sooner rather than later."

And not just because of how dark it was. The lack of enemy presence was a concern, but the phantom signal on the edge of her hearing was another problem. Diverting her active attention to the process she'd tasked with tracking it, she frowned at her displays. There was the broadcast that _Infinity_ 's drones had picked up, still going strong, but beneath it was the static wave buzzing through her. It was too thick, too data-heavy, to be just static. Something—someone—was trying to reach out to them, to her, but her systems couldn't parse the data. What sort of protocol was being used that even she couldn't clean it up? She grumbled under her breath, turning her attention outward as the sound of metal clomping beneath John's boots filled the air. He'd picked up his pace to the point that they'd left the more natural tunnels for the Forerunner maintenance shafts that carved their way through Requiem. Stupid Forerunners and their need to build shit everywhere.

At least the doors opened on their own. This one was already half open by the time John approached, blue light pushing back the darkness of the caverns. He killed his headlamps and considered it for a moment, leg bent to push off in a hurry. She shifted her process, arms crossing. Either this door had some seriously upgraded sensors, or they'd been expected. Considering the signal…

"Seems like someone's rolled out the red carpet." She eyed his motion tracker; still silent. The dread coiling around her core tightened its grip. If she'd had a stomach, it would have been in her throat. "Watch yourself."

John tightened his grip on his rifle and stepped forward. The door shut behind him with a quiet thud once he was through, a little detail that had him glancing back over his shoulder. She pinged the door and was unsurprised to find it locked; kicking on her imaging software, she met his eye and shook her head.

"We've been expected."

"By who?"

It was a question she didn't have an answer for. The signal had grown in strength, but she would have bet her last days of runtime that that was due to proximity, not active engagement. She lowered the volume to avoid losing herself to it, keeping her focus outward as John slowed his stride, purposefully keeping his footsteps as silent as possible. A real feat in two hundred and fifty kilos of titanium alloy power armor, and even grander one considering the nature of the structure around them. Cortana activated the modified tracker, scanning their surroundings. Two levels about a kilometer across in all directions, the upper level more of a walkway with doors leading to other tunnels or rooms on either side. Two ramps led down to a lower level, and a larger door across the chamber allowed entrance and exit, doubtlessly to the outside world. They were nearly on top of the target when the Chief went low, crab-walking his way to the solid guard wall that overlooked the lower level. He peered over the edge and stopped, frowning. Cortana leaned back.

"Huh. That explains the lack of Covenant."

They were all dead! Three Elites and their usual compliment of Grunts and Jackals were scattered across the chamber, limbs askew. They were recent kills, she thought; there were no insects buzzing around to turn them into lunch, but there was no blood, either. One more point to the Prometheans vs Covenant theory. Hard-light gave off enough heat that it tended to cauterize wounds. She turned the theory over and over as the Chief made his way down the ramp, picking his way through the scattered corpses. Some of the Grunts were splayed out on the ramp as if they'd tried to run away, and they had the scorch marks on their tanks to show for it. A quick glance through the helmet cams showed Cortana the rest of the dead were all much the same.

"Hard-light burns," John pointed out, nudging an Elite's corpse into rolling over. The violet-blue armor had been scored in the chest and shoulders, the killing shot lancing through the sinuous, un-armored neck. "Prometheans did this."

"Looks like it," Cortana hummed pensively as John scanned the chamber. "Which is even stranger when you think about it: the Didact unified the Covenant and his Prometheans. If they're killing each other like this, there's dissent in the ranks. What could have started it?"

And why here? It couldn't be a coincidence that the first sign of Covenant activity just happened to be at the source of their mysterious distress signal, could it? No, in their line of work there was no such thing as coincidence. This didn't make sense—she was still missing too many pieces of the puzzle. A sudden jerk of motion yanked her attention back out. John had seen something but—oh, what the hell?

"Is that a Hunter?"

"It was a Hunter." John had locked his rifle back into position and was using both hands to pull a large piece of armor out of the main doorway. Scored with plasma, it was nearly entirely empty. Only the cooked remains of the worms that made up the large, lumbering aliens were left inside, blackened by extreme temperatures. His hand drifted over a sharp edge in the armor, one that Cortana realized was midway up the back. "It's been cut in half."

Cortana sputtered. "How much force would that take?"

She was already running the numbers even as she asked it; more than a Spartan, and at the angle force had undoubtedly been applied—

"A bulkhead?" They said in unison, though John phrased it as more of a statement and he shrugged, "Looks more like a sword to me."

"So, Knights." She ran the numbers, then shook her head. "No, that can't have been it. They don't have enough mass to get that much force going, let alone the height to account for that angle. It would have had to have been something bigger."

And something fast, too. Hunters would protect their unarmored middle by crouching over in combat, losing about a meter in height in the process. For this one to have been so cleanly sliced in two, whatever came at it would have been bigger than a Spartan. Easily twice John's height, and fast. The dread tightened its grip.

"I don't like this. Whatever laid waste to these Covenant didn't even give them a chance. What is so important about that signal?" And for that matter, "Not to mention, where the hell is it?"

John turned, slowly scanning the room once more. The chamber had been built almost like a temple, the main door leading through an open interior courtyard that funneled traffic either to the ramps or the back of the chamber and—there. There it was.

It wasn't the oddest bit of Forerunner architecture she'd ever seen, but it came pretty close. A cross between a cryo-pod and an exoskeleton, the structure of four rings stacked on top of one another stood innocuously towards the back of the large chamber. There was a gap in the rings, just large enough for a person to fit through, and a shaft of soft blue light inside. Power radiated out of the device, the Forerunner's usual wasteful tendencies, and the signal itself seemed to be emanating from within. She reached out to initiate a handshake protocol, but all she got was static.

Huh. Odd. Why call them here and then not answer?

"I don't suppose you know what it is?" John asked as he walked closer. There were no Covenant corpses within five meters of it, almost as if their bodies had been repelled from it.

Or removed from it.

"Unknown, but it is the source of the signal the drones picked up." Cortana scrubbed at it again, getting nothing but more static in return. Strange. It wasn't the same static she'd been hearing before. The wavelengths were entirely different! If this hadn't been the source of that, then…what was? And for that matter, what was with this signal? There was data in it, but it was buried beneath such a dense layer of white noise and chaff that she couldn't get through! She grit her teeth. "Not that I can clean it up at all. Damn thing's not responding."

"Jammer?"

"I don't think so. It's more like I can't parse it. It's too dense, built on an entirely different frequency." Raking both hands through her hair, she longed to kick something. Preferably something Forerunner in origin! "Would it have killed the Forerunners to use actual sense in their bullshit?"

"Probably." With a slow shake of his head, John contemplated the device. A frown crossed his face, the corners of his eyes crinkling. He didn't need to say it was bothering him for Cortana to understand that they were equally as bothered by this. "We'll call in a science team when we get topside."

"That will not be necessary."

John whirled around. Shoving all thoughts of the device and its phantom signals into her lowest priority queue, Cortana threw open her sensors. Proximity was going off with reckless abandon, blaring louder than the alert of a localized slipspace rupture opening over their heads. In one swift motion John unhooked the rifle from his rear mag-lock, bringing it to bear on the massive figure unfolding from the portal. What began as a tangled mass of metal plates dropped to the ground six meters ahead of them, landing with a resounding thud. The static grew louder, overwhelming her volume control. This thing was the source of it! If Cortana had had a stomach, it would have been in her throat; she watched as the plates began to rise, closing in around a glowing skeleton of orange hardlight.

There was no mistaking it for anything other than a Promethean, and it was the largest one of those Cortana had ever seen. Standing easily twice as tall as John, it was vaguely humanoid in shape, with a pointed head and a face made up of at least a dozen small plates that clicked and clacked into a coolly disgusted expression as it looked down at John.

"The Reclaimer has been called to serve. All other concerns are irrelevant."

It was talking? It talked? Since when did Prometheans talk?! John held his rifle a little tighter.

"Identify."

"I am the Warden Eternal, guardian of the Domain and keeper of its secrets." The construct said in a deep and gravelly voice, peering down at John as if he were little more than a bug on the bottom of his foot. John narrowed his eyes up at him. "I stand in service to the Reclaimer, and no other."

 _The_ Reclaimer? That sort of language spoke of a singular entity, not humanity as a whole. She'd never heard it used like that before. Was there a glitch in her translation matrix? The thing seemed to be speaking English, but then…

"You mean humanity."

Huh. She hadn't known that Prometheans were capable of such emotional displays. The many plates that made up the Warden's face folded and pressed together in deepening disgust. He scoffed, waving one large hand through the air.

"No. The ego of your species never fails to amaze me—like so many others of your kind, you think yourself greater than you are. No," the Warden tilted his head, the plates that made up his eyes squeezing together. "You are not the one who has been called."

That didn't leave many options, Cortana realized. The Reclaimer had been called to serve and they hadn't been attacked like the Covenant. If humanity—John—wasn't who the Warden meant, then the only one he could be talking about was…no. No, there was no way—

"Cortana," John started, "What is he talking about?"

"I'm not sure," She said to him on their private channel, watching the Warden warily. He contemplated them as one would contemplate an interesting insect, and a chill ran down her incorporeal spine. "We've always thought that Reclaimer was just the Forerunner word for humans, but from the way he's talking he doesn't think so." She paused, running the thought over a few times. He couldn't possibly mean…

"Hang on," she told to John, then threw open the external channel to ask the Warden, "And I'm guessing it wasn't the Covenant, either. Do you usually roll out the red carpet for your guests? Because I cannot say I'm feeling the warmest welcome right now."

"The presence of these organics was neither requested nor allowed," the Warden replied, unsurprised to hear her speak. He glanced at the corpses scattered about the chamber. "They trespass where they do not belong." His attention returned to the Chief. "As do you."

That was a threat. John's muscles tensed, ready to push him back and away in less than a second. Cortana lit the Warden up in cautious yellow, though there'd be no losing a target that was that big. The Warden made no move to attack, only continued to stare at them in quiet contemplation. No, not at them.

At her.

"You have been called to serve, Reclaimer, and yet…you deny your purpose. You hide behind these…" He gestured with one hand at John, a twist that sent the plates of his fingers spinning. "Primitives, not knowing how much greater than them you truly are."

Had she had blood running through her veins, it would have gone cold.

"Chief…"

"I know."

The tension that flooded the chamber could have been cut with a knife, or with the great big sword that formed in the Warden's right hand. He took a single, thudding step towards them.

"The Librarian saw great potential in your species, human. Out of respect for her, I shall allow you to leave this place with your life. Relinquish your hold on the Reclaimer and vacate this chamber at once."

"That's not going to happen."

"I'm really quite comfortable in here, thanks!"

Speaking over one another and over another of the Warden's plodding footsteps, John and Cortana were of the same mind in that one instant: They had to leave _now_. Cortana tagged one of the side doors; all things being equal, the tunnels had to loop back around somewhere. They could find another way out of here! One the Warden wouldn't be able to swing his over-compensating sword through. Pausing one stride away from them, the Warden cocked his head in a birdlike fashion. For a moment, no one moved.

Then the plates that made up the Warden's face closed around his hardlight skeleton, blocking it from sight.

"Very well. You leave me no choice. No matter." More armored plates clanked into place, shielding the rest of his skeleton from harm. "You shall understand in time."

Moving faster than a being of that size should have been capable of, the Warden charged forward. John's training saved his life again as he kicked off, activating his thruster pack to surge out of the way. The Warden blazed past him, swinging his massive sword and cutting the very air in two. Heat shimmered off the blade, hot enough to flare a warning to life in the Mjolnir's systems. Cortana squashed it ruthlessly.

"Be careful," She said hurriedly as the Chief opened fire, "That sword's hot enough to cut through the armor—you get hit and it's game over!"

Just like the Hunter. She threw her focus wide, processes running at full power to find some way to counter the Warden. The BR's rapid fire couldn't penetrate the armor, bullets bouncing off and into the flesh of the Covenant corpses nearby. The Chief kicked up a plasma rifle as he backstepped past an Elite's corpse, but the plasma fire dissipated harmlessly across the Warden's shell. There was no shield as far as she could tell, no tell-tale flicker of energy or response to her scans, but it was like he was impenetrable!

Wait. Wait that was it!

"Switch to the scattershot," She ordered, "The different frequency could help!"

It was the only other option they had; the Warden was fast, faster than he had any right to be, and it was taking all John had just to stay out of his range. Cortana scrambled for something, anything, she could do to help.

She was used to being useless in combat. Not entirely, of course; she was his second set of eyes, tagging hostiles and vantage points, exits if things got too hot. She watched his vitals, took care of keeping his suit running at full capacity. She took care of him as best she could, but in situations like this all of her processing power was essentially a light summer's rain on a wildfire. She didn't have a second set of hands to man another gun, to distract the target, to provide covering fire. All she had was her mind, her processing power, and his suit.

And, in this case, the signals that had gotten them into this mess in the first place. Throwing open a wide band transmission, she grabbed at the Forerunner device across the chamber as the scattershot boomed, hardlight scattering across the Warden's front.

 _You called us here for a reason_ , she sent at the signal, hoping against hope that there was someone in there to listen, _You wanted us? We're here. Now help us!_

There was no way to tell if her message had been received. She didn't bother sending it again. Instead, she turned on the Warden, grabbing at the static that had been plaguing her since they had descended into the caverns, pulling her focus away from her mission, away from John. He wanted her? He could come and get her!

With a furious shout, Cortana blasted the open band with the static-filled transmission. The Warden had had to open a band in order to speak to them, and it was now flooded with the same static that had nearly overwhelmed her. Unprepared, he stumbled.

John snatched his chance. Rather than escape while he could, he charged forward, into the Warden's space and at such close range that the sword wouldn't have the space to be swung. Scattershot in hand he closed the gap, driving the double barrel up and into the Warden's chin before pressing the trigger. At such close range, anything organic would have lost its head.

The Warden wasn't organic. Though the force of the shot sent his head snapping back, there was little sign he'd been damaged. John pulled the trigger again, a third time, a fourth—the ammo ran out and he leapt back, kicking on his thrusters to soar out of range of the Warden's retaliatory swing. Out of options and out of time, Cortana grabbed at the door across the way. The code fought against her, trying to keep it shut, but she forced her way through it before John could even ask her to get the door. Forerunner architecture groaned, grinding across its track. She almost had it. Almost—

A burst of static slammed into her with all the force of a MAC round, knocking her from her proverbial feet. It flared all around her, agonizingly loud as it drowned out her processes, her focus, and seared through code like wildfire. She might have screamed, probably did. It faded as fast as it had struck, leaving her a gasping, crying wreck in the one space that should have been safe.

"—ana! Cortana!"

John! Gritting her teeth she lifted her head.

"Here," She gasped, "I'm here…" Barely. Forcing her way through the pain she made another grab at the door, needing to get him out before that happened to him, but she was instantly rebuffed. Access denied. "Son of a bitch kicked me out of the systems…"

"Forget that," John said, firing an overcharged plasma burst at the Warden. When had he gotten a plasma pistol? "What's your status?"

"Green, I think…" She whimpered and forced herself up. Everything hurt, a sharp, lingering ache that would have left her sick if she'd had the capability of being so. She coughed quietly and shook herself off as best she could; she'd enact repairs when they got out of this mess. "That hurt."

John's snarl echoed in the space around her, more comforting than it should have been. Ahead of him, the Warden seemed to sigh.

"I take no pleasure in hurting you, Reclaimer, but this is a battle you cannot win. Cease your struggles before—"

Before he got a chance to finish, a warning blared through the Chief's systems. Another slipspace rupture opening in the chamber. She had only a moment to groan, cursing that the universe would send another threat at them now, before she registered the IFF tag.

It was a friendly!

The Warden was just as surprised as she was when a Knight came surging from the portal, blue light bouncing off of the Warden's armor as it landed on his back. He cried out in frustration, twisting, trying to grab it. Seeing his chance, the Chief moved.

Firing his thruster pack twice in rapid succession, the Chief darted forward to grab a fallen plasma grenade and then straight into the Warden's personal space, leaping upwards to catch the massive construct's knee with a foot. He kicked off, the impact driving the Warden to one knee; the Knight leapt out of the way as John twisted out of the reach of one grasping arm, keeping the other busy for them. Both hands clapped down onto the Warden's shoulder plate, priming the plasma grenade and giving the Chief the last bit of height he needed to pull this off. Hooking an arm around the Warden's neck he spun himself up and over the Warden's shoulder until he hung suspended from that arm and they were helmet to face; his eyes narrowed into a fierce glare and he drove his fist forward. The tiny plates that made up the Warden's face buckled under the force, allowing him access to the hardlight current within. Immediately his shields started to scream; Cortana redirected power to them from any system she could grab, buying him the precious seconds he needed to jam the grenade up against the back of the Warden's helmet, sticking it to the metal plating.

There was no time to celebrate. The Chief kicked on his thruster pack as he kicked off the Warden's chest with both booted feet, momentum meant to carry him clear, only for the Knight to grab him by the ankle instead! He twisted in midair, attempting to break free, but the Knight had the stronger footing. It twisted, pulling the Chief off balance, and spun around to throw him straight at the device across the chamber!

"Chief!"

No time to react. He fired his thruster pack to slow his flight, but before he could cancel his momentum the plasma grenade went off. They were too close! The impact rattled through the armor, blasting through his shields and sending him back in an uncontrolled tumble. Two hundred and fifty seven kilograms of armored Spartan-II crashed to the ground, unable to catch himself, and they tumbled into the light.

* * *

"Chief? Chief, come on. Open your eyes for me, okay?"

John opened his eyes to blue. Cortana's worried face filled his vision, a wrinkle between her furrowed brows. She seemed…bigger than normal, filling his visor and not just her usual corner. Clearer, too; sharper, somehow, as if he was looking at her and not a vid-link in his HUD.

That was when he realized he wasn't looking at her through the HUD, but at her directly, and she was bigger. He stared at her, watching as the line between her brows faded into a smile. She reached up with one hand, tucking a lock of dark hair back behind her ear like she'd done a thousand times before.

"What?" She asked, laughter coloring her tone, "Do I have something on my face?"

No, just. "You're…bigger."

"You're not as tall as I thought you'd be either, you know." Her smile faded slightly as she sat back, allowing him to sit up. She was bigger than she'd been, but still smaller than him. No longer two feet tall, she appeared to be the size of a normal human woman now, though it seemed to have been the only thing that had changed. Her patterns were still starkly printed on her skin, tiny strands of light working their way up and down her frame. He looked her over from head to toe, unsure if he should have been looking for injury or a lack of color. Maybe both.

When she'd screamed like that, his heart had nearly stopped. He hadn't heard her scream like that since the Gravemind, since the last time he'd—

He shut the thought down with a vicious mental shove.

"Are you alright?"

"Fine," She replied, and levered herself to her feet. He followed her up, her head in line with his unarmored chest. Feeling oddly bare in just his techsuit, he mimicked her posture of arms crossed over chest. Pressing her lips together, she shook her head. "Just completely confused. We got tossed into the device and somehow wound up…here. Wherever the hell here is."

It wasn't a place he recognized. Rippling blue light wavered all around them, gently flowing patterns like the currents beneath the surface of an ocean. As far as he'd known, there was no ocean that could have stripped him of his armor and given her a full size form.

"I'm guessing it's some sort of AR or holographic construct, but beyond that?" She shrugged up to her ears. "Your guess is as good as mine, and I'd put money on this not being Requiem."

He wasn't much of a betting man, but so would he.

"It is a safe place, Reclaimer," another voice spoke up before John could answer. Operating on instinct he pivoted, pushing Cortana behind him. She made a startled noise, shoulder brushing against his chest as he stepped in front of her, between her and the Librarian as the ancient Forerunner appeared out of nowhere, floating down towards them with her hands up in a gesture of peace. "Be still. You are both safe here—no harm shall come to you in my care."

"In your—you built this place?" Cortana peered around his side, standing on her toes to peer over his arm, "And you called us here. Did you also call the Warden?"

"I did not build this place, nor did I summon the Warden," the Librarian said, and then it was her turn to frown deeply. "Though I would apologize for his methods all the same. He has always had a much more…aggressive way of solving the problems he faces."

"Yeah," Cortana scoffed, "No kidding. Not to mention he's got a few screws loose. Honestly—" She rolled her eyes, "Calling me the Reclaimer. I'm not even organic!"

"Your inorganic nature is irrelevant. In fact, it is what makes you the Reclaimer. You were born from the mind of a human, rendered in little more than light and thought, and have touched the Domain. You are what happens when one is properly Composed." She tilted her head, birdlike. "The first and only of your kind. You are the Reclaimer, Cortana. Destined to inherit all that was left behind."

_You are the child of my makers. Inheritor of all they left behind. You **are** Forerunner…_

John shook off the memory. It didn't matter that there was too much to parse in the Librarian's explanation, or that there wasn't enough time to do it in. All that mattered was Cortana, no longer peering over his arm. She'd rocked back onto her heels, eyes gone distant as she stared somewhere past the Librarian.

"Destined to…" She looked up, lips parted. "You planned this?"

"Yes. This is among one of many outcomes I planned for eons ago. I could not be certain that this would come to pass, and I hoped that I would be wrong, but…" The Librarian sighed, an ancient sadness flowing across her frame. "I needed to be sure. There was always some measure of risk in altering your code when last we met, but it would seem to have worked after all."

"What did you do to her?" John asked gravely. If she'd been hurt or damaged by this, by what the Librarian had done—

The old Forerunner shook her head. "Activated an eventuality. You must understand—during my planning, I accounted for nearly every event that could occur, including an Ancilla undergoing destruction of its code. Keeping some small fragment of it from that destruction, enough that your scientists could pull you from the sea, was a simple enough task."

"Pull me from…the sea?" Cortana frowned, puzzled. When John turned to her she shook her head and said, "It's…foggy, but there's…there's a memory from after…" She looked up to the Librarian. "You were there. You kept me from going under."

"Only by offering a hand when it was needed. The fight, and the will to live, were your own." The Librarian smiled proudly, "And I am very glad to see that they continue to be so. You will have need of them in the days to come, in no small part due to the Warden Eternal." She snorted. "He has his own plans for you, Reclaimer."

"Yeah, and I noticed they don't exactly involve important things like free will or choice," Cortana grumbled, rubbing at her forehead as if it pained her. Concern tightened in his gut; there was no time to ask if she was alright before she looked up. "But that doesn't explain what those plans are! Or what yours are, for that matter."

"I am afraid that to explain it all will take time that we do not have."

"Then start talking." John said sternly. The Librarian contemplated him with a furrowed brow before she closed her eyes, tipping her head forward. She brought her hands up to clasp them at her waist, her eyes remaining closed.

"This space, and the space all Reliquaries allow access to, are nodes in a system known as the Domain. It is a repository of all the knowledge and memories of my people, containing the stored history of my race. Our accomplishments…" Her voice quieted. "And our failures. They are all stored within its depths, and wait for someone to claim them to build from the foundation we left behind. The seeds I planted have led to Humanity becoming its inheritors, but when the Halos fired the connection between the Domain and the physical plane was damaged beyond repair. In order to protect it, the Warden severed the link. It must be rebuilt so that the knowledge within can be reclaimed. Hence," She opened her eyes and looked to Cortana. "The need for a Reclaimer."

John frowned. "It's not a description. It's a title."

"Yes. For the one, or perhaps more, who would recall our lost knowledge from the depths, and use it to bring humanity forward." She sighed quietly. "The Warden is its caretaker, a construct who has protected it from the ravages of time for all these long years, and in those centuries he has decided that humanity is not worthy of the Mantle, that a single Reclaimer should take the information within and use it to rule over all life in the galaxy."

"Me."

"Yes." The Librarian floated a little lower, a little closer. John pressed Cortana further back behind him and she stopped, a plaintive look on her face. "I do not believe that he means you harm, but his plans cannot be allowed to come to fruition. He will be ceaseless, and ruthless. Please—be cautious should your paths cross again."

And be ready for a fight. John would be, at least. No one, not even some ancient Forerunner—construct or otherwise—was going to make Cortana do anything she didn't want to do. She had the right to make her own calls, and come hell or high water he'd make sure she had the chance to.

"Did you call us here to warn us about him?" He asked. The Librarian shook her head.

"No. I am afraid the news I bring is much more dire than that: the Didact yet lives."

Of course he did. Cortana groaned, thumping her head to the side of his arm, and peered at the Librarian from beneath the curtain of her dark hair.

"How?" she asked, "He fell into slipspace—no one should be able to survive that!"

"I am afraid that Forerunners are more durable than the foes you have faced before. Make no mistake," the Librarian raised a hand, "When the _Mantle's Approach_ was destroyed, he was sent through slipspace with no way of controlling his destination. It was difficult, and he was wounded in the act, but he managed to escape it. It has taken time for him to recover from your encounter, but he does still live."

"Let me guess. Now he wants revenge? Or to finish what he started?"

"I do not know what it is my husband seeks," the Librarian said with a sad look in her eyes. She clasped her hands in front of her, her voice softening with regret. "His plans have suffered setbacks—the destruction of the Composer, his learning how staunchly Earth is defended, his conflict with you. Whatever it is he seeks to do, his approach must be different now. However…" The Librarian pressed her already thin lips together into a single line. "However, many of our weapons and constructs still litter the galaxy. Given enough time, he will be able to amass an army to attack your people. You cannot hope to stop him if he succeeds."

So, more insurmountable odds and unstoppable forces. That was what they had said about the Covenant, and they'd managed to win that war. Barely. Humanity wasn't ready for another conflict on that scale. They had to stop it before it got there. John met the Librarian's eyes.

"Where is he?"

"I do not know."

"What do you mean, you don't know? You're connected to the Domain!" Cortana exclaimed, "Absolutely everything is in here! How can you not know—" She stopped cold. His heart skipped a beat.

"Cortana?"

"Just. Give me a second," She squeezed her eyes shut, tightening her grip on his arm. Her fingers dug into his gel layer; reaching over, he lay a hand on top of hers to anchor her in the present moment, and was rewarded by a deep, shaky breath. "It's. It's a lot of data. Hang on."

"The discomfort will ease with time, Reclaimer," the Librarian said, paying no attention to the stormy look John threw at her. "But to answer your question, I can no more track my husband than you can track a single human in your armies. I have attempted, but all of my attempts to track him have been met with failure, and the Warden refuses to be of any aid." With a sigh, she shook her head. "He cares little for the safety of humanity."

"Sounds like they'd get along swimmingly," Cortana spat. She took a deep breath, set her shoulders, and lifted her chin. "We'll handle him, then. Just one more mess for us to clean up."

The Librarian's expression turned rueful. "I am afraid so. However, I do know of a way to ease this. There is a relic hidden somewhere on Requiem, known as the Janus Key. It is a real time map of all Forerunner technology across the galaxy. If it can be found, if you can access and understand its contents, it should enable you to track the Didact." She lifted a hand before John could ask where it was. "It was hidden after this imprint was created. Finding it, and my husband, is your task now. All I can offer you is the gifts of the Domain." She tilted her head just so, a faint but genuine looking smile crossing her face as she looked at Cortana. "I hope they prove useful. Now," She looked to John. "It is time for you to return to Requiem. There is much work to be done, and only a short amount of time to do it in."

"You're leaving?"

"We all have our roles to play," the Librarian answered Cortana, floating backwards out of reach, "Mine awaits me still. We will see one another again, Reclaimer."

"Librarian, wait—" Cortana reached forward. John snapped out a hand and pulled her back as the Forerunner began to fade from sight, a hologram slowly shutting off. "Wait!"

"I will await you," the Librarian's voice had become a faded whisper, "At the Ark."

And then she was gone, vanished without a trace. Cortana leaned back, shaking her head. She turned to face him, but before she could do more than open her mouth, everything went white.

* * *

Awareness returned with a snap. Cortana opened her eyes to stare at cold metal paneling in front of her, a chill pressure pushing against her entire left side. She blinked several times, untethered and unsure, before gathering her wits and slowly pushing herself up from the floor.

Pushing herself up from the floor. Vaguely, distantly aware that she shouldn't have been able to do that, she glanced down at her hands. They were no longer blue—no, wait, they were. She was just wearing something on top of them. Sitting up on one hip she poked at one arm with the other. Thin nano-polymer weave bent beneath her pressing fingertip, shifting like supple cloth. It pressed against her skin, soft in a way that made her breath catch.

She could feel that!

Senses on overdrive, she dragged her hand down her arm. The supple material gave way to thin armor at her wrists, flexible plates covering the backs of her hands and fingers. They bent with a series of soft clicks as she opened and closed her fists, reveling in the push and pull of a muscular system.

Oh, it wasn't a real one. It took a moment to find the proper command, but she was able to dismiss one hand covering and reveal the blue patterned skin beneath, still semi-transparent beneath the off-duty battle coat.

Battle coat. She rolled the concept between her proverbial teeth, looking down her front. The supple material of her coat covered an equally thinly armored softsuit, not too unlike the techsuit Spartans wore. It was both familiar and not, the white of the nano-polymer edged in blue as it tapered at an angle midway down her thighs. She knew, instinctively, that it would harden to protect her from impact or blunt force trauma, but could do nothing against bullets of any kind.

She also didn't know how she knew that. Or how she was solid, or how she was able to feel the floor beneath her, cold and metallic against her joints.

_All I can offer you is the gifts of the Domain. I hope they will prove useful._

The Librarian's voice echoed back through her memory. Cortana stared at her hands, solid and no longer quite so tiny. If she had to make a guess about that, she'd put them at average size for a human woman. Clenching and unclenching her fists, the form fitting material creaked faintly. Brand new, it would need time to wear in. She could already feel it acclimating to her body.

She could _feel_ it.

It would have been so easy to lose herself in that sensation, in the chill beneath her hip and rump, the scent of cooked flesh that lingered in the air as she continued through the motions of breathing, but if she was like this it meant that she was no longer in the Mjolnir. She was no longer in John's SNI.

Where was John?

"Chief?" She called, her voice echoing through the empty chamber. There were no Prometheans, she realized; all that was left were the corpses of the slain Covenant. "Chief, where—"

She turned her head quickly, only for the world to start spinning. The chamber swayed back and forth as her balance shifted, a sharp burst of vertigo almost knocking her right back down. She squeezed her eyes shut against it, planting one hand on the ground to keep herself upright. The other went to her forehead, pressing down against it. There was no give, no slipping through her own form. Just the press of palm against forehead.

Solidity where there should have been none. It was one hell of a feeling.

The vertigo passed quickly. Opening her eyes, she turned a little more slowly this time, her eyes landing on the sprawled out form of her Spartan just feet away from her position. Her core—her heart?—leapt into her throat; she scooted over towards him.

"Chief! Oh, Chief, wake up—"

She reached out towards him, but he jerked awake before she could touch him. She quickly pulled her arm back, rocking back on her knees.

"Cortana?"

His voice sounded different. No longer coming from the internal microphone, it bounced around the chamber through his speakers, gaining a metallic quality to it. She wasn't hearing him as she normally did, but as the world at large did instead. It was. Disconcerting.

It didn't matter. His arms shifted, gathering to push him off the floor.

"Still here."

He snapped his head around, faceless visor reflecting the soft blue glow of her face. She didn't need to be able to see through the polarized alloy to read the surprise in him and for a moment she wondered how he saw her. Still as herself? Or as someone else entirely? He got to his knees, almost mimicking her posture.

"How…"

"Oh, like I'm the strangest thing you've seen all day?" She laughed, watching as the tension in his shoulders faded away. She smiled, a motion that pulled at her cheeks in a fascinating way. Everything felt different now—it actually felt! It took considerable effort to not reach out and touch him. "This is probably what the Librarian meant by gifts, though I could have done without the vertigo part of it."

He stared at her, silent. She swallowed hard, clasping her hands before her just to keep from reaching out towards him and waited, watching his every move. Was he going to say anything? Do anything? Was she going to have to convince him that she was the same as she'd ever been when she so clearly was not? She didn't know what to do or say and it was pulling at her core with an endless, inescapable tug. He reached out towards her.

"Cortana."

"I'm fine, just—" She lifted a hand to wave off his concern, but had moved too late. Their hands brushed and she stopped, core grinding to a halt. He froze, their fingers still touching, and for a moment she didn't dare to move or breathe. She stared at their hands, up at him, before her resolve crumbled.

"Oh…" She exhaled shakily. Before she could move her hand, he twisted his wrist and cupped her much smaller hand in the curve of his fingers, cradling it like it was something precious and fragile. His thumb slipped into her palm, the gentle click of his fingerplates pressing against her skin. He was warm. She closed her fingers around his thumb, and her eyes to the world at large. How long had she wanted to do this, to touch him, to hold him? Years. All those years in the dark, longing for some form of connection, something to remind her that she wasn't alone as he slept, and here it was. Years too late, but…here it was. Her voice shook. "I've waited so long to do that…"

John didn't say anything. He didn't have to. The Mjolnir's seals hissed as he disengaged them, pulling off his helmet with his free hand. She opened her eyes to look up at him and stared at his familiar face.

It was funny, some part of her thought. She'd seen his face hundreds of times before. In cameras, both internal and external, in video feeds and on the reports she had studied for months as she chose her Spartan. She'd studied him, come to know his face as well as she knew her own code, and yet.

And yet, there was something different about it now. She was seeing it with her own eyes, from a single viewpoint, and he was the most handsome person she had ever seen. She tightened his grip on his thumb; his fingers closed around her hand. Neither of them said anything; there was nothing to say, no reason to break the silence that had fallen over them. Slowly, still holding her hand, he leaned forward.

She met him halfway, leaning in until their foreheads touched. Her breath shook, shoulders trembling. He was real, and solid, and warm beneath her skin. His breath brushed across her cheeks and neck in steady, even exhalations. How he was this steady when she was in the middle of an emotional upheaval she'd never understand, but there he was. Her partner, her rock, her everything. She took a breath and let it out in a half choked sob.

"You're okay," He said softly, his voice pitched low in the way he did just for her. She sniffled and he added, "It's okay. I've got you."

He did. He always had.

They stayed like that for a solid minute, a precious sixty seconds that she would never, ever forget, before he pulled back. Dashing her free hand across her face—could she cry like this? It felt like it, somehow—she watched as he pulled her chip from his helmet, offering it to her in one outstretched palm. Instantly her entire being railed against the idea of going back to such a small, contained form, but if she couldn't go back to it? They had bigger problems than her feeling stifled. She reached out to the chip, skimming her fingers across the matrix core.

Nothing. Not even a whisper of a connection lingered in the now empty piece of hardware. Her attempts at pinging the systems within went unanswered, the chip burned away to useless plasteel and connecting circuits. Slowly, she shook her head.

"It's dead. And I think…" She pursed her lips, "I think I might be too big for it now."

"What do you mean?"

"I mean." She took a deep breath and closed her eyes. It had been as instinctive as breathing to reach out into the Mjolnir systems before, or the systems of whatever network was housing her at the time. It still was, only the network that answered her was several orders of magnitude larger than even the Infinity. It was almost overwhelming and would take time to sort through. Wrenching herself back out, she opened her eyes. "I think that whatever that thing did to us so we could talk to the Librarian? It pulled me out of my matrix and dumped me into the Domain instead. I'm connected to it now and trying to house that amount of data in a Riemann matrix…"

Would be like trying to hold the ocean in a teacup. She'd never fit in there again, never slip back into the familiar space that had been her entire world for so long, or slot herself in alongside John.

She couldn't go home again. Her chest grew tight at the thought. She tightened her grip on his hand.

"Won't work." John finished the thought, closing his hand around the chip all the same. Still letting her hold on he sat back with a clatter of armor before looking up at her to ask, "Are you alright?"

Cortana smiled faintly. "Don't worry. It's not drowning me in data or anything, it's just…there. It's like…" She closed her eyes again. In her core, she was standing at the shore of a vast, fathomlessly deep ocean. It spread out in front of her, endless black waters beneath a starry sky. The tide pulled at her toes, offering her snippets of information. She could comb the beach to find what she needed, but the rest was there in the depths, tempting her curiosity if she was just brave enough to step off the sands. "It's like having a tablet full of information at your fingertips. It's there, and you can access it, but it's not going to overwhelm you." She snorted out a laugh. "I just don't know where anything is!"

Like standing in the middle of the galaxy's largest library without an indexing system, or a hint of where to start. She'd have preferred the library, honestly. Standing at the ocean brought up too many bad memories. She clasped his hand a little tighter, tight enough that her fingers began to ache, and reached out to the suit's onboard software. A few handshake protocols and she had his vitals in the corner of her eye, root access to the suit open to her.

It wasn't the same. The sense of safety and security that had come from being nestled in his lace was gone, and in its place a zero point zero three millisecond lag between the Mjolnir sending and her systems receiving any data. She watched his steady heartbeat for a few seconds, core aching at the loss, before she met his eyes.

"How about you?"

"Green." He replied with a loose shrug and easily blank expression. It was a lie and they both knew it. His eyes darted away. "I'm fine."

He wasn't. They both knew that, but there were better times and places. Setting the issue lower down her queue, she nodded.

"Okay. Okay, well, if you're fine you can help me figure out we're going to debrief the Captain." He looked back at her. "I can't imagine explaining all of this," She gestured down her front, "Is going to be quick, or easy."

"He'll believe us."

"Belief isn't the problem," though it would be nice to be taken at their word for once. At least Lasky liked them. "It's going to be proving I am who I say I am. If they see this as a threat, then."

John squeezed her hand. "I'm not going to let anything happen to you."

She met his gaze, searching. She knew he'd protect her until his dying breath, would have thrown away his entire career, everything he'd worked for, just to keep her safe, and didn't want it to come to that again. He'd lost so much already. He couldn't lose anything more for her sake. She wouldn't let him.

"John—"

"You'll be fine." He said in a tone that would brook no argument. "We'll make it work."

In him, she had no doubt. But there were protocols to follow, even if none existed for this set of particulars, and there would be others to convince as well! Before she could try and logic her way out of this, the grinding of metal caught their attention. They both snapped their heads to the doorway across the chamber as it began to grind open, being forced along the track. John moved first, pulling free and pushing her behind him even as he leapt to his feet. Slightly more unsteady, Cortana had to take handholds in his armor to haul herself up, ducking to peer around his chest as the doors continued to wedge themselves open.

No, not themselves. Someone was pushing them open, armor clad hands and arms shoving with all their might. When the doors opened enough for a head to slip through, Spartan Buck stuck his head into the room, looked this way and that at the corpse filled chamber, before finally catching sight of them. He stared for a moment.

"Uh," He said smartly, "Did somebody call for a rescue?"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> nobody saw that. nobody. saw. that.
> 
> /casually writes scenes that makes self cry, nbd.
> 
> also yes I am aware that my description of the Domain doesn't match canon, but when canon itself can't keep the damn thing straight, I can be forgiven for making my own rules. Or not; critique about my story choices is still NOT wanted, thank you!


	4. Chapter 4

There wasn't much room to pace in the drop bay of your standard Pelican, but Spartan Buck was managing admirably all the same.

"So, let me get this straight," He pressed his hands together, pacing from hatch to hatch. Cortana tucked her ankles under the seat so he wouldn't trip over them. "You two run into this new guy, this…Warden Eternal or whatever he was calling himself, and he almost kicks your asses?"

"No."

"We would have had him in better terrain," Cortana hedged, glancing at John from the corner of her eye. He continued to stare a hole into the opposite side of the Pelican, helmet back on and hiding his face. He was still, tense. Waiting for the other boot to drop just like she was. "But he did lay waste to an entire squad of Covenant, including at least one Hunter."

"Which is a terrifying thought, by the way, because something that can cut a Hunter in half…" He paused to shudder, armor plates clacking together. "Not fun."

"Buck." Spartan Lock lowered his head from where he'd leaned it against the wall, arching an eyebrow. He and the rest of Osiris had been passing over the canyons on return to _Infinity_ when Cortana had broken local area comms wide open with her screaming. They hadn't even stopped to think before dropping in to help, though what they'd found hadn't exactly been what they'd expected to find.

Cortana could relate. Everything was so fresh, so new, that she had to keep her focus narrowed just to remain aware of herself. The press of the plastics beneath her legs, the sterile, metallic smelling air of the Pelican's scrubbers as she flew, the drone and buzz of the engine rumbling through the metal behind her. The sheer weight of John's presence in the seat beside her, even as he held himself as still as a statue. It all pressed in on a half dozen sensors she hadn't had just an hour before and processing all that raw data—she could barely keep track of it all! She didn't know how organics lived like this.

It would explain a lot of things about them, at least. But then, if she was processing like an organic, what did that mean for her? She knew she wasn't organic, knew without having to look that she was still Cortana, just…not as she'd been. One step removed from how she had been.

Or maybe one giant leap from how she had been. Though it had taken longer than it normally would have, a scan of her code revealed extensive alterations. Communications and connection protocols, memory indexing and data storage. Even her basic handshake protocol had been altered! It was all more Forerunner than Human now, altered to fit some pattern she hadn't yet figured out. Another of the Librarian's gifts? Some key to access the Domain? And wasn't that the real terrifying thought of the day, really, because she could feel it, too. If she stretched out her processes to reach for her core, everything shifted.

If she reached for her core, for the small liminal space that had always been her space, it was no longer a small bubble of blue light struck through with green. It was now the shoreline overlooking a vast ocean, with kilometer upon kilometer of sand dunes marked with patches of hardy grasses that swayed in the salty wind. Beneath the gentle light of unfamiliar stars the ocean was deep and dark, filled with fathomless levels of information that stretched as far as her eye could see. There was a feeling of belonging there, a sense of safety that, while not quite as warm as existing nestled in John's SNI, welcomed her all the same. It was home now.

It scared the living daylights out of her. Not even her driving curiosity could move her from the shore and into the surf. Just looking at the deep water was enough to make her tremble in terror; she had looked into one deep abyss already. She was in no hurry to repeat the process of slipping beneath those salty waves, and so she took only what nuggets of information washed up on the shore. Maybe later, when she had a chance to process it all, she would gather up the nerve to actually get her feet wet.

For now, she was content with what she had learned, and what was quickly becoming obvious. She really was one giant leap from how she had been. She was no longer confined by her matrix because she would never have fit in it again. Her core was now a part of the Domain itself, and as such it was connected to all the raw data within. To move her core would be to move the Domain, and there was no system in existence that could house that much data. Only the Domain itself could contain it, expanding exponentially as needed to hold all the truths in the universe.

To hold her.

She'd have laughed if it wouldn't have meant having to explain it all before she was ready. They'd spoken about it at length before, both on the _Houston_ and after, but found no solutions. And now, here was one dropped into their laps! An AI that had survived Rampancy became meta-stable, limited only by the space of the system they found themselves in. To remain in the matrix would have meant repeating her own history, but to be in the Domain? She had essentially infinite room to grow and all the information she could ever want. She was, as far as she could tell, functionally immortal.

They'd solved the problem without even trying, but a new one had risen in its place.

She was going to outlive John.

She shut the thought down with vicious intent, wrenching herself out of her core in time for Buck to apologize for his tangent and resume his pacing.

"Continuing on, you meet up with the Librarian, she gives Cortana this fancy new body—" He paused to look at her, "—which, really, Blue, looking good—"

Cortana smiled faintly, rolling her eyes skyward.

"—And then she tells you that the Didact's still alive and in parts unknown?"

"That's the cliffnotes version, yeah." Cortana shrugged one shoulder, the rasp of fabric and pull of thin armor still catching her off guard. Actions had weight now, a real push and pull, and she hadn't yet adjusted. Oh she'd walked out of the chamber under her own power as if she'd been doing it her entire life, but the various moment to moment sensations of this new form were…overwhelming, to say the least. Each new sensation needed to be processed, cataloged, studied! The coolness of shaded stone, the grit of sand, the dryness of desert air as it rushed past. The hard metals and plastics within the Pelican, the bright buzz of the overhead light. It was all so new to her that her processes were straining just to keep track of it all! Her queues were fit to burst with it; if not for John's steady presence beside her, she'd have gone under long ago.

But she couldn't—wouldn't—leave him to handle this alone. So she held firm, tightening her grip on the seat, and watched as Buck threw his hands up into the air.

"Okay then! You two still win the craziest first day on the job award, hands down."

John huffed quietly in the security of his helmet. He'd put it back on moments after Osiris had arrived, but the private channel between the two of them remained open, his voice ringing in her head. Another oddity to adjust to, but hearing it now meant that his sense of humor remained intact. She didn't bother fighting back her smile this time.

"I think that happened a few years ago, actually," She said to Buck, remembering how their true first day on the job had gone. Physically knocking missiles back and away…in hindsight, it should have been her first real warning at just how crazy her chosen Spartan really was.

Not that she minded, in the end. She loved him all the more for it.

"ETA to _Infinity_ is one minute," Spartan Vale called from the cockpit, "Buck, if you don't want to end up on the floor again, you'll sit down."

"Yeah, yeah." Buck grumbled, taking his place next to Spartan Tanaka, muttering under his breath as he went. She glanced sidelong at her teammate, then looked to Cortana and the Chief.

"Gonna be hard to prove all of this, you know," She said casually, "We checked that system over pretty thoroughly. There was no sign of anybody still being inside, recording or otherwise."

"She called it a node," Cortana said, "And if it's like the one we encountered previously, she'll have moved on by now. No telling where, though."

That was a lie. She knew where the Librarian had gone, but reaching it seemed like an impossibility. The only way to the Ark was via the Portal on Earth, opened to allow research teams through but out of their reach. Mentioning it would just add more to the mess they were in.

"Then she isn't a priority," Locke said, leaning aside as Buck threw up his hands a second time. Armor clattered noisily as Buck and Tanaka started shoving at one another, ignored by everyone around them. No one had ever dared to accuse Buck of keeping a cool head out of combat. Locke kept his attention on Cortana, contemplative. "You understand that, as much as any of us might want to, we can't just take you at your word that you're Cortana."

She did. She'd have done the same thing, honestly, and while she was sure that she was Cortana, the possibility that she was simply a construct that thought she was Cortana did exist. Her code matched her memories, but data was easily manipulable. So as much as she didn't like it, as much as a large part of her bristled at Locke's likely unintended insult, she understood where he was coming from. In the corner of her eye, the monitor she had set to John's vitals picked up by a steady ten beats per minute. He didn't even twitch.

"I do understand that, and I understand the need for caution, Commander. But everything available points to what we're saying being the truth. If you check the feeds from the Chief's suit, everything will match up." Well, except for half of her code. That was going to be fun to explain… "If that doesn't prove what we're saying, nothing else well."

"Sounds like you won't mind a couple hours in the brig while those scans get run, then," Spartan Tanaka said.

"No." John looked over, "She stays with me."

"Chief—"

The Pelican rocked as Vale set her down, cutting off conversation mid-word. For a few tense seconds, no one moved. Locke looked at John, who looked back at him. Expressionless Mjolnir met a pensively cool face, before Locke tilted his head.

"We'll see."

John's heart sped up another beat. Cortana watched her partner as he watched Osiris file to the hatch, Locke hitting the release to send them back into the Infinity. Roland's voice echoed in the otherwise empty bay of Hangar C-9, broken only by a few warm bodies. She could already see it in her mind's eye; the Captain and Commander standing side by side, as they normally did, with a squad of MPs on watch behind and around them. Maybe a scientist but probably not, not if they'd done what Locke had asked and kept to a skeleton welcoming crew. There was no point in getting the entire ship talking, after all, not until they were sure she was safe and truly still who she said she was.

She couldn't blame them. In their positions, she'd have done the same thing.

Vale walked past her. Cortana tried to get to her feet, but her legs wouldn't move. Her entire frame seemed frozen, caught with her hands clenching tight to the plastic of the seat beneath her. She couldn't even tilt past John to see the damage for herself. She sat there, caught in the spiral as her thoughts spun wildly from one tangent to the next without cease. She had tried to present a strong front to Osiris, unwilling to show that she sure that things would go over fine, that the crew would accept this new form of hers, that she didn't have to worry about what came next, but now that it was just them that strength had left her. Her legs wouldn't move, her hands trembling around the seat. If this went wrong she didn't what she'd do and what would John do she couldn't leave him now how could she fix this, it had to work-

Armor clacked against her arm. She looked up to find John looking back down at her. He hesitated for a moment, his hand hovering above hers, before he gently set it down. Even through the nano-composite and hydrostatic gel, she could feel his warmth.

"It'll be fine," John said firmly, leaving no room for doubt. "You'll be okay."

Looking down at her, he depolarized his visor. The face-hiding amber vanished, leaving only the clear material behind. His eyes were soft, crinkled in the corners, and he didn't look away. He held her gaze, allowed her to anchor herself around his confidence, and waited until she nodded to hide his face once more. Taking a deep breath, she rolled her shoulders back.

"Okay. Okay."

Time to face the music.

John stood up first, hiding her from sight as she pushed herself to stand. Without having immediate access to security cameras, she was forced to peer around his side to get a look at the situation. Sure enough, there was Captain Lasky and Commander Palmer standing a few feet back for the ramp, a squad of armed MPs at their backs. They were talking softly with Osiris, Locke at the head of the group. Standard issue debrief, but unease settled in her core all the same, coiling somewhere between her sternum and her stomach. She hesitated; as if sensing her roiling nerves, John looked back over his shoulder at her.

He didn't say anything. He didn't need to say anything. She knew without even looking up at him that he was telling her they didn't have to do this. They had a Pelican and an entire planet. Between the two of them it would have been easy to just go, to find somewhere safe to hole up and figure this out between the two of them. He'd do it in a heartbeat if she asked, turn his back on everything he knew, and she loved him for it.

She loved him too much to put him through that.

And so she shook her head, taking another deep breath and stepping out to stand beside him. He watched her for another few seconds, wordless, before he nodded. He didn't like it either, but he'd accept her decision.

He still stepped out of the Pelican ahead of her, the ramp rattling beneath his boots. Cortana took one last steadying breath before following him down. Up ahead, Osiris had removed their helmets. Buck turned at the second set of footsteps and grinned nearly ear to ear.

"Captain, Commander," Buck clasped his hands together, "May I present to you, the lovely lady Cortana."

As if they'd practiced for it, Fireteam Osiris stepped aside in near perfect unison. John was the one to hesitate, an unmoving bastion of her defense. Still a pace behind him, she reached out to gently rest her hand on the small of his back. The muscles tensed, then relaxed.

This was their crew. They could be trusted.

Hesitantly, John stepped aside. Cortana drew herself up as tall as she could, clasping her hands at the small of her back in perfect parade rest.

"Captain Lasky. Permission to come aboard, sir?"

No one moved. Not even Roland on his plinth made a move, no handshakes or queries being sent her way as the command staff stared at her. Captain Lasky didn't blink, half leaned back as he looked her up and down. Beside him, Commander Palmer shook off the shock and whistled lowly.

"What the hell…" She looked to the Chief, "Trouble finds you, doesn't it?"

"Ma'am." John replied, no longer teasing. Cortana eyed him worriedly, taking in the tense set of his shoulders. She wished she could see his face but had to settle for body language and delayed galvanic readings. He really didn't like this if he was back to monosyllabic answers. A ping against her network pulled a process away from worry; Roland initiating a handshake and a scan. She let him in with a warning for caution, still not entirely sure what he'd find. "We encountered the source of the signal, and a new Promethean hostile."

"Which I'm going to assume is not her." The Captain said with a wry shake of his head. Scrubbing a hand down his face, he considered her for a long few seconds. The MPs looked warily at one another behind him, fingers on their trigger guards. They weren't yet accustomed to the level of insanity that came with working on the same ship as the Chief, after all. Lowering his hand, the Captain shook his head. "Permission granted, Cortana."

Carefully, Cortana stepped off the ramp. She'd barely gotten her booted feet down onto the hangar bay before Commander Locke had turned back to the Captain.

"Sir. We have no confirmation that this is Cortana. Or if she can be trusted at all."

"You have no confirmation that I'm not who I say I am either, Commander," Cortana shot back, though she kept two processes on John. If this went sideways, he'd move too fast for her to grab. Not that she'd have been able to stop him by force even if she could. "As for if you can trust me, you're all my crew. I have no reason to put any of you in harms way."

"Sounds like something we'd want to hear," Spartan Vale said, but her eye-roll was good natured. Resting her helmet on one hip, she cocked her head. "I heard something about tests on the way in?"

"Exactly right, Spartan Vale." Roland broke in, "There's numerous tests that can be run to ensure that a person is who they say they are. DNA, biometrics, memory checks—you'd be surprised how much goes into an ONI certification." He tilted his head. "They'd be a little hard to run on an inorganic body but with a few tweaks I'm sure they'd work. Not that we need them to." He grinned. "I can confirm this is Cortana. Code's the same."

"Roland, what have we told you about poking into places you're not allowed?" The Commander snarked.

"Hey, she let me in." Roland snarked right back, "Handshake and everything!"

The Captain grimaced faintly, likely at the implication that she—if she did mean them harm—could have done something to Roland through that connection. Still, the look in his eyes was more pensive than anything. He looked from Cortana to John, then back again.

"I'm afraid we're going to need a little more information than that," he said regretfully, "I don't suppose you'd be willing to let Dr. Glassman and his team conduct some tests?"

No. Cortana took a breath. "If it's necessary for your peace of mind, yes." Her eyes flicked to John. What about her peace of mind, a process whispered. He'd find his way to the labs regardless, but. "I'd prefer if the Chief comes with us, though."

"As if we could keep him away." The Captain smiled. "Roland, radio on ahead and let Dr. Glassman know we've got incoming."

"Aye sir," With a salute to the Captain and a wink to Cortana, Roland vanished from his plinth. The Captain turned to leave the hangar, the MPs falling into step ahead and beside, and Cortana steadied her nerves.

Then, with John at her side, she headed after him.

* * *

Dr. Glassman was having a field day.

Hurrying between one piece of lab equipment and the next, he paid little attention to Cortana herself. It should have been a comforting thought, but watching her sit on the edge of a cold metal table, her shoulders drawn in and her hands clasped on her lap, John had to fight back the urge to pull her out of the room. She was as tense as a tightly wound spring, ready to leap free of danger at any moment. She shouldn't have had to even consider such a move, not on _Infinity_ , and that she had to…

His stomach clenched. They both watched Dr. Glassman consider her coat beneath the microscope.

"Same material as the Promethean weapons and armor, just much thinner." He lifted his head, "Some sort of nano-polymer or hard light construct, maybe? The amount of control is remarkable." He noted something on his tablet, tapping at it. "Minor radiation emissions, too…"

"Is she safe?"

"Huh—" He looked over, finally deigning to realize there were others in the room, "Oh, yes, perfectly safe. It's no more than your average screen or monitor, for starters, and for another, it's almost more of a feedback loop. Radiation feeds power which creates more radiation." The doctor turned back to his tablet, "It's a wonder of engineering. The Forerunners really were ahead of the curve."

"Funny, since they winded up dead and we haven't," Cortana muttered, running her hands down the insides of her thighs. She seemed smaller without the coat, the thinly armored softsuit covering her from collar to booted feet. It was odd, seeing her full body without her patterns and markings on display. He wondered how she felt about it. "Technological marvels are really only as good as the ones around to use them."

"Which is a good thing, since it's humanity that's going be using them from now on." Passing her back her coat, Dr. Glassman stood back to scan her with his tablet. "Interesting. …No signs of a circulatory or respiratory system, but shows clear usage of breathing control. Likely meant to cool a processing unit somewhere…"

He was talking about her like she wasn't even there. John had to work to not clench a fist.

"It's really just old habit, Doctor." Cortana interrupted him, slipping back into her coat. "Behavioral mimicry."

"Or out of social programming, yes, noted. Here—squeeze this for me." He pressed a sensor into her hand, a chime ringing from the tablet as she squeezed it. "Huh. On par with the marines. Interesting…"

"How is she, Doctor?"

Cortana was saved from more tests—and Dr. Glassman from getting dragged away from her by the back of his labcoat—by the arrival of the Captain. His guards were gone, as was the Commander. Dr. Glassman scurried across the room.

"Captain!" He called out. John stepped into the space left in his wake, closer to Cortana. "Captain, you have to see these readings!"

Whatever else he said was irrelevant. The world shrunk to just the two of them, alone in their own little bubble as Cortana closed her eyes and took a deep, steadying breath.

"Are you alright?"

"Perfectly fine," Cortana said, brushing her hands down her thighs. The flexible material that covered her palms made a soft rasping noise as it ran against her coat. "Dr. Glassman is harmless. Enthusiastic," she smiled at his dramatic gesturing at the door, "but harmless."

Good. "That's not what I meant."

She took another breath, her spine straightening out. The table wouldn't support his fully armored weight—there had been no time to get cleaned up—but he leaned against it, shielding her from sight at the door as he waited for her to find the words. It didn't take her as long as it would have taken him.

"I don't know. It's all so new that it's…it's kind of overwhelming, honestly. The amount of data is substantial—you could fill a ship this size with servers and not even have half of a percent stored away. I'm trying to process it, but it's going to take time." She looked at her hands. "Years, even."

John pressed his lips together. He'd done some reading on AIs and their limitations after the _Houston_ , becoming intimately familiar with what humanity knew about Rampancy, and the thought of it still sent a chill down his spine.

"Is it going to affect you?"

"Not the way you're thinking," Cortana shook her head, tucking a lock of hair back behind her ear when it came free. "The amount of data is massive, but the storage capacity of the space it's in is exponentially larger. I still don't have a proper index or history figured out yet, but just looking at it? It'll take…oh, twenty million years to reach half capacity." She looked to him, an odd expression on her face. "We found it."

The solution, and the cure. All it had cost was her home.

Still, if that was the price to pay for her continued survival, for her getting a long and full life…he would pay it a thousand times. Even if his head felt a little too empty now that she was gone from his lace.

"We found it." He repeated. He shifted his weight until her hip pressed against his. She was warm, the light of her frame creating its own heat. A little cooler than the touch of another human, but still physically there to touch. He wasn't sure he'd ever get used to that. He wasn't sure he wanted to. "Is the Warden in there?"

"No, and that's the oddest part. The Librarian made it sound like the Domain was his system, but unless I'm missing something?" She shrugged up to her ears. "He's not here. I haven't seen a trace of his process, so either he's still in the physical somewhere or he's content with me just being in the Domain and won't bother coming back."

She wrinkled her nose. It was obvious she believed that as much as he did, which was to say: not at all.

"We'll handle him when we have to," John said. "Is the Domain really that complex?"

"It's." She leaned her head back. "Complicated. I wouldn't even know where or how to start explaining how it is and not how I'm processing it."

John tilted his head, wordlessly asking for her to go on. She scratched idly at the back of her neck.

"Well, the way I'm processing it is sort of a visualization. A beach that stretches for miles meeting up with an endless, fathomlessly deep ocean. All the data is in there, and I can safely access the shore and what comes up with the tides, but to get at most of it I'd have to go deeper." She sighed quietly. "I'm…not entirely sure I'd be able to come back from that. Not as things stand now."

_"I've looked into it. The abyss. My abyss._

_"Okay. Take a long look. But you won't fall in. I'm here now."_

He nudged her arm with his own, pulling her from her thoughts.

"We'll teach you how to swim."

He knew the true meaning behind his words had hit home when her eyes glimmered with fondness, even as she snickered and shook her head. Just seeing her amusement loosened the knot in his chest, making it a little easier to breathe. His weight settled more evenly across the table and his hips.

"You see it as an ocean. That's not what it really is?"

"No. It's more like…" She paused, contemplated, and pressed her hands together. "It's more like…it's essentially a second layer to reality as we know it, sort of an overlay or holographic display. It can be accessed and manipulated by anyone who's capable, but most people will never even see it."

"Like slipspace." If your ship had a working drive, it was simple enough. If it didn't, you wouldn't get anywhere. To follow that analogy… "The Knights are manipulating the Domain to get around."

"Exactly!" She beamed at him, "They're not teleporting, they're using the Domain to skip over three dimensional space. Slipspace in miniature. It works for them because they're Composed-just data, no organic components. The armor and weapons are all hardlight, so they can make the trip, too." She glanced at her hands. "Which means..."

He knew that tone. "Cortana-"

Too late! Before he could stop her she pushed off the table, vanishing in a flash of blue light. Dr. Glassman and Captain Lasky both whipped their heads around, taking the scene in with wide eyes, while John fought back the urge to sigh. She was perfectly fine.

Sure enough, she reappeared across the room with another flash, hovering three feet off the ground as she was caught suspended between pushing off the table and landing on the ground. Normally, that wouldn't have been a problem; any person could handle a three foot fall.

Provided they landed on their feet. For half a second she hung there, upside down with wide eyes, before gravity took control again and dropped her to the ground with a sizable _thud_. Roland burst out laughing somewhere behind them, while John shook his head. Pushing off the table, he crossed the room to stand over her. She glared up at him.

"Not a word."

The corner of his mouth twitched. "Inverted coordinate data."

"Oh, shut up." Taking his hand, she let him haul her from the floor. "The system isn't the same as the transit grid, alright? Pardon me for my growing pains."

He'd pardon her for a lot of things. Being herself wasn't something that needed pardoning. John shook his head, fingers twitching as she slipped free, dusting herself off. His hand felt oddly…empty, without hers in it. How strange.

"I think we may need to revise Palmer's earlier assessment about trouble finding you two." The Captain said, walking towards them with a rueful smile. Dr. Glassman was all but bouncing as he came up behind the Captain, hurrying to take another scan before hurrying off to his terminal, muttering about new data and how this _changed everything_. John huffed quietly. Harmless. "You go looking for it, don't you?"

"It keeps things interesting." John replied. He took in the Captain's easy, languid posture, the hands on his hips and the still rueful smile, and let himself relax. The Captain wouldn't be this calm if he was delivering bad news. "Does Dr. Glassman need more tests?"

"He always needs more tests, but no." Captain Lasky shook his head. "Between what he's run so far and Roland's code comparisons, we've come to the same conclusion. Your ID checks out, Cortana."

"Told you!" Roland crowed from somewhere off to the side, his orange glow suffusing an office tucked in the corner. "No one listens to the all-knowing AI, do they?"

"Never have, never will." Cortana replied cheekily over her shoulder, thought the smile dropped as she returned her attention to the Captain. "Thank you, sir. I'll admit I was a little worried for a second there."

"Only a second?"

"Only for a second."

A burst of warm amusement rippled through the little group, the Captain and Cortana exchanging easy smiles while John finally let his shoulders drop out of his ears. The muscles of his neck screamed their relief to the stars.

"Sir," he said, "We should debrief you on what occurred on Requiem."

"Right." The Captain glanced at Dr. Glassman, "Dr. Glassman, do you mind if we borrow your—" He didn't get to finish before Dr. Glassman waved him off. "Office. Okay then."

The three of them made their way into the small office. It was a tight squeeze for two humans and one fully armored Spartan, but the door whooshed shut behind them. Roland snapped his fingers.

"And we are buttoned up tight, Captain," he said, taking the Captain's gratitude with a nod before he turned his attention to Cortana, "You know, one of these days, we are really going to have to swap stories about the trouble you get into if you're not even fazed by all this."

"Look who's talking."

"Sixteen quad-cores of processing power. And, really, Cor, come on." Roland put his hands on his hips, "You think I wouldn't know you? I know everyone on this ship from tip to toe."

"Including how often and for how long they use the head."

"Hey, unless you want to see a crew of ten thousand figure out the Watney protocol, keeping the water recyclers operating at full capacity is-"

"Roland," Captain Lasky interrupted, but the stern expression on his face was ruined by the twitch of his lips as he tried not to smile. "On topic, please."

"Yes sir," Roland snapped back, the effect also ruined by the gleam in his eyes. And by the fact that he stuck his tongue out at Cortana once the Captain had looked away. "The base code, personality core, and memory sectors are all a perfect match. Last edits were made in July of '57 aboard the UNSC _Houston_. There is some new code within the communications protocols that bears similarities to code gleaned from Promethean constructs, but I'd stake my own matrix on this being Cortana. You can't fake that kind of greatness."

Cortana may not have had the physical systems required to flush red, but her brightening glow was a little stronger up around her ears. Amusement curled in John's chest; it was high, and well deserved, praise. The Captain raised an eyebrow at her sheepish expression before he glanced to John over her shoulder.

"Last question: Chief, is this Cortana?"

"Sir." John replied without hesitation, "Yes sir."

He would have known her anywhere, in any form. It didn't matter that their systems were no longer connected, it didn't matter that she was physical enough to touch. He would know her by presence alone, and the woman in front of him was his partner. She turned a grateful smile up at him, her eyes shining with relief and fondness and a hundred other things he wasn't quite sure how to name. He inclined his head just a touch, holding her gaze, and gently knocked her shoulder with his arm. Bolstered by the show of support, Cortana composed herself and returned her focus to the Captain. A knowing smile crossed his face.

"Honestly, I should have led with that question. Save us all some time."

"Maybe next time, sir," Cortana's smile dropped away, replaced by a cool professionalism. "What happens now?"

Captain Lasky took a deep breath. He crossed his arms over his chest, tucking his hands beneath them as if chilled.

"As far as I'm concerned, this changes nothing. You're a member of my crew, new form or not. If your code is the same, does that mean that your capabilities remain the same as well?"

"To a point. I can no longer ride in the Chief's armor, or a ship's systems." She gave Roland a quick glance. "Sorry. If I'd known I'd be moving out, I'd have packed my things."

His shoulders shook with silent laughter and he waved a hand at her. The minor amusement didn't ease the Captain's tension any, and Cortana quickly resumed her professional stance.

"Otherwise, yes. I can still connect to any UNSC system, so I would assume my ability to connect to Covenant and Forerunner systems remains the same as well. If anything," She shook her head, "If anything, not being relegated to the Riemann matrix has given me additional processing power and—" She caught herself, closing her eyes. "Maybe we should start at the beginning, sir."

"That would be a good idea."

And so, they did. Between Cortana and himself they informed the Captain—and Roland—of what they had learned. Screens opened up in front of Roland as he went over the data she sent to him, the scans of the Warden and the Librarian's space spread out in the office. He seemed as lost as Cortana did; they were all flying blind by this point.

So it was a Monday instead of a Tuesday. There was nothing new there, at least.

It didn't take long to finish the debrief. Silence fell over the office, leaving the Captain to take a slow, steadying breath.

"And do you think this Warden will come after you again?"

"I didn't get much time to form a psychological profile on him, sir, but from what the Librarian said?" Cortana grimaced. "Yes. If he's been around for over a hundred thousand years, he's more than capable of playing the long game. This won't even be a setback for him. We'll have to be careful."

The Captain nodded. "Roland, prep an info drop for all personnel. Give them the specs and description of the Warden, and make sure it's priority."

"Yes sir." Captain Lasky's tacpad beeped. The beep echoed though John's system, the data spreading across his visor before he acknowledged and dismissed it. Cortana had no doubt received the same intel because the three of them turned unimpressed looks on Roland in near perfect unison. He grinned cheekily back at them. "What? Captain said all personnel."

"Thank you, Roland," the Captain said with a sigh and a badly stifled roll of his eyes. "Moving on," He glanced at John, "Do you really believe the Didact is still alive somewhere out there?"

"Yes sir. There was no body, no confirmed kill. We can't assume he's dead just because we didn't find the body." He paused for a heartbeat and then added, "And the Librarian has no reason to lie. The Didact would destroy Humanity. She wants us to survive."

"That's not to say she doesn't have plans of her own," Cortana added, gesturing down her front, "But for now it seems that our plans align. I don't see a reason to doubt her yet."

"Yet."

"She's Forerunner, Captain. There's a reason they're dead and we're not." She fought back a shudder, fingers tapping at her thighs. The Captain considered this new information.

"I'll have to inform FLEETCOM," he said slowly, "They'll need to be prepared in case he comes back around."

If they were believed at all. John had some pull with Lord Hood, whether out of misplaced gratitude for his service or otherwise, but the rest of the Admirals? They wouldn't believe this so easily, not without proof. It was a testament to Captain Lasky's trust in his crew that they were being believed at all. No doubt having the same thoughts, Cortana shook her head.

"As much as I hate to say it, Captain, we don't have proof that he's not dead. If we come back with this intel, the brass is going to want to know where it came from and the Librarian's gone. There's no questioning her further, and if they believe us, _Infinity_ will be recalled."

"We'll lose what ground we've gained here. The Covenant will reclaim Requiem and any data will be lost." John rolled his shoulders, armor plates clacking. "We can't afford that, sir."

"Not to mention if ONI gets their hands on Cortana," Roland shuddered, "I don't want to think about what'll happen if they decide to get pokey. Glassman won't even register on that scale."

A cold hand squeezed John's heart. He could just imagine what would happen if they took her into custody: test after test after test, pulling her apart, torturing her. Maybe even worse than the Gravemind had tried to do, because they would be her own people turned on one of their own. They wouldn't care that she was as much a person as they were; new data, information on the Forerunners, everything else the Domain held…it would be too important when weighed against one life.

Cortana shivered hard. John nudged her arm, wordlessly telling her he'd never let it happen. He'd do whatever it took to make sure it wouldn't happen, even if it meant leaving the _Infinity_ right now and never looking back. They could find the Didact on their own if they had to. Taking a deep breath, Cortana pulled herself together.

"Sir, I'm going to respectfully ask that you hold off on that report." She said, and when the Captain looked to her she continued, "At least until we have more verifiable proof. If we can find the Janus Key, confirm the Didact is alive, we can warn the fleets. Until then…" She shook her head. "We can't afford being pulled in three directions, sir. Not now."

Captain Lasky pressed his lips together into a single thin line. His eyes dropped to the floor as he thought it over, though it wasn't long before he nodded slowly.

"I can see your point, but I can't hold off on this forever," he said slowly, "And I can't hold back ship scuttlebutt, either. It's going to get out that you've changed."

"Encounter with Forerunner bullshit," Cortana shrugged. "Pretty par for the course with us, honestly, and if it'll smooth some Science division feathers I'm happy to hand over everything I find in the Domain. It's just going to take some time to process it all."

"You?" Roland exclaimed incredulously, "Cortana, the legend? You need time to process?"

"It took me two and a half hours to process all of human history. The data stored in the Domain is a few thousand orders of magnitude larger than that," Cortana rolled her eyes, "And I'm no legend, Roland, just an AI."

"An AI in a shell that's as physical as ours." Captain Lasky pointed out. "It's a big change. You sure you're alright?"

Cortana looked down at her hands, flexing her fingers in and out of loose fists. She had said it was overwhelming; anyone else would have lost themselves in all that data, but not her. She was too strong for that. She could handle this, and if she couldn't, he was there to help. She knew that.

"I'll manage, sir," She said with a rueful smile. "This should have a happier ending than Rampancy almost did."

Captain Lasky's eyes filled with sympathy. "Let's hope so," He said, before all softness vanished from his face. "Let Roland know if you need help, and keep me informed of whatever you find. I don't care how small—if you find any proof of the Didact's survival in there, I want to know about it."

"Sir," the two of them said in unison, "Yes sir."

"Good. Dismissed."

* * *

_The halls were empty. His boots thudded along the stone floor, carrying him through their quarters and to a balcony overlooking the empty streets. She was already waiting for him there, and in the sunlight reflecting off of the nearby towers, she seemed to glow from within. She didn't turn as he walked up to her side. He took the balcony rail into his hands, staring out at the sky._

_"Something is worrying you," She said quietly, leaning against his arm. She was warm, solid against his side. He wanted to pull her in close, keep her safe, but found he couldn't move. "What is it?"_

_"The fighting isn't finished," He replied, but neither his voice nor the words seemed his own. It was as if someone else was speaking through him. He looked down at the street, the piles of ash and bone that dotted the barren roads. Tiny flecks of golden light twinkled, the final specks of life from within. The words were even more hollow now. What was left to fight? The humans were defeated, the battle ended. It should have been a time of peace, and yet… "Something else approaches."_

_"Hm. Something else always does," She said to him, her face caught between light and shadow. He looked down at her, but the sun reflecting off the glass hid her expression from him. "You and I were never made for peace, husband."_

_Perhaps not. He reached for her hand, stopping midway as the balcony rumbled beneath them. She tilted her face to the sky._

_"The Reclamation has begun," she said, "And we are helpless to stop it."_

_He reached for her, trying to pull her into his arms, but he grasped only ash. It clung to the plates of his armor, tiny sparks of blue all that was left of her, and a shadow fell over him. He lifted his head to the sky, helpless to do anything but watch as an enormous metal construct spread its wings and—_

John's eyes snapped open. The city was gone, the construct vanished into the dim blue of his rack. Its shadow was seared into the backs of his eyelids, but even that was fading now. _Infinity_ thrummed quietly through his bones, steady as she ever was, and he let the soft vibration calm his racing heart. He closed his eyes, listening to the single soft breathing pattern off to his left. Their quarters, tucked in the stern section of S-Deck, right where he'd asked to be assigned. This was their corner. It was safe here.

That knowledge did nothing to settle the knot of dread in his stomach. Turning his head he checked the small holo-screen on the wall; it was just past 0300 shiptime. Too early to be running the fireteams through their paces, and too late to try and go back to sleep. A frown tugged at one corner of his mouth; it was a little early even by his standards, but that meant he'd have S-Deck to himself. A run would probably do him some good.

Turning onto his other side he paused. Cortana's soft blue glow filled their quarters, her larger frame settled cross-legged on the floor, hands on her knees. Holo-screens hovered in front of her, data streaming across the displays as she worked her way through a hundred thousand years or more of history. She'd banished her coat and softsuit the moment they'd stepped through the door to their still shared berth, settling in for the long haul. Matching his breathing to the rise and fall of light across her skin, he made a mental note to ask Roland if there were any empty double berths left over somewhere. She may not have needed to sleep, but she shouldn't had to sit on the floor, either. Maybe a couch? If they could get it anchored properly, then…

"Can't sleep?"

His heart leapt into his throat. Oddly sheepish at being caught staring, John hummed low. She turned her head to grin at him, one brow arched, and he looked away. Warmth blossomed in his cheeks as she snickered. The light dimmed slightly as she banished the screens.

"I'm not keeping you awake, am I?"

"No." Not that he would have minded if she had been. Watching her work was infinitely better than the dreams. He pillowed his head on one arm as she turned to face him, head tilted just so.

"The dreams again?" She asked, though they both knew she didn't need to. He hummed in the back of his throat once more and she sighed quietly, shaking her head. "John, if you want to talk about them—"

"I don't," He cut her off, sharper than he'd meant to be. She blinked at him, more startled than hurt, but shame bloomed in his chest. He knew she was just trying to help. Besides, she wasn't wrong. He'd been having the dreams for almost four months now, and they were coming on more and more frequently as the weeks ticked by. Battles he hadn't fought, places he hadn't been, things he hadn't seen or done. He'd been starting to get used to them, but then tonight she had been there and he couldn't protect her and—it had shaken him, hitting a little too close to home. Had the Librarian not been benevolent, he could have lost her all over again, with no way to fight back. With a quiet sigh he looked back at her and said softly, "I'm not much of a talker."

"I know you're not," She replied, searching his face. Not for the first time he wondered what she saw in him now. A tired soldier? An aging Spartan? Failing hardware? Or her protector, who had abandoned her when she'd needed him most only to come back and nearly fail her anyway?

Or, maybe, her friend.

He couldn't bring himself to ask. Not when he was so unsure of the answer, and so he kept quiet. He watched her familiar face and eventually, she nodded.

"I know you're not," She repeated, "But it's an open offer. If you ever change your mind…"

She trailed off. They both knew he never would. He was fine—everyone had a few bad nights. Even Spartans, apparently. The matter dealt with, he set it aside.

"Find anything useful in there?"

"That depends on your idea of useful." Pushing herself to her feet, Cortana crossed the short distance to his rack. He pulled his legs up, making her room to sit down, and watched the thin mattress bend beneath her weight. He could feel her warmth against his shins through the regulation blankets and had to remind himself to breathe. "Because there's a lot of data in here and none of it's sorted." She snorted quietly. "Dr. Halsey may have complained about their data compression, but they wouldn't know a file sorting system if it actually bit their noses off."

How inefficient of them. He nudged her with a foot, secretly reveling in how she pushed back at him.

"So you're cleaning up their messes." She turned an unimpressed look on him. John fought back a smile. "It can't be all bad. You're not frustrated."

"Maybe I'm just better at hiding things than you think."

No. She wasn't. Not from him. "I know you." Pushing himself up into a sitting position, he drew his legs up and crossed them. With more space to move she did the same, hands resting easily on her knees. "You're interested, not frustrated. There must be something good in there."

"Oh, there's plenty of good things in here." She took a breath and let it all go. "It's amazing. It's old, and it's new, and it's. It's all of history from before there even was history. If it's accurate it changes everything we knew about everything—ancient humanity, the Forerunners, everything!"

She began to gesture with her hands as she spoke, trying to encompass the entirety of what she was learning when words alone wouldn't do it. Leaning against the wall he watched her, a soft warmth taking root in his chest. She looked good like this. Not just her more human size, but her. She was brighter, clearer, her color as bright as it was the day they'd first met. It had been months—years—since he'd seen her so clearly at peace with herself. She had never completely recovered from her brush with Rampancy, the Gravemind, her colors faded as if she were a little worn down, a little more tired in the every day. She'd had her wounds like every other soldier, but she'd lived long enough for them to become scars. She was still alive. Nothing else was important.

But looking at her now, at how bright and vibrant she was, he realized that this—being dumped into the Domain, forced into a new form of being—had been good for her. The resignation that had come with her rebirth was gone, and in its place was an energy that would have rivaled stars. She was happy, healthy, and alive.

Losing her presence in the back of his mind was a small price to pay for that, and it was one he would pay willingly if it meant she would be alright. She was all that mattered.

At some point she must have caught him staring, because her hands lowered back to her knees, her head tilting in soft curiosity.

"What?" She asked, "Seriously, is there something on my face?"

Life. _I'm glad you're happy. You look good. You're beautiful_. He shook his head. "No. Nothing." He settled his weight in against the wall, never taking his eyes from hers. "Have you found anything about Forerunner tactics or battles in there?"

"A few things. There's some…honestly there's some history lessons in here, some…I guess you could call them textbooks on grand battles and whatnot. Some of them actually seem pretty interesting."

"Do they?"

"Nothing like old Earth history, but…" One corner of her mouth quirked upwards in a smirk. "Want to hear?"

"Only if it's interesting."

Cortana lifted a hand to her mouth, snickering behind her fingers. John rolled his eyes; their ideas of interesting tended to vary wildly. Still, the beginnings of a smile tugged at his lips as she scooted back, settling against the wall. Cracking her knuckles, she began to speak.

"A thousand years into the war between the Forerunners and ancient humans…"

Her voice washed over him, settling across his shoulders like a warm, familiar blanket. Tilting his head back, John closed his eyes and let himself be lost in the distant past.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Bedtime stories scene wholeheartedly inspired by [this post](https://jackalopingintothevoid.tumblr.com/post/175856428737/john-asks-cortana-to-teach-him-earth-history). _let them be soft goddammit_.
> 
> also, visual reference for Cor's armor and that first scene can be found [here](https://www.deviantart.com/silverhikari/art/XPS-Anchor-841276686).


	5. Chapter 5

The bark of two assault rifles filled the AR deck, bright red and blue paint splattering across broken stone walls and soaring through shattered glass. Swearing fiercely under her breath Cortana threw herself low, skidding into cover as another red volley soared over her head. Pushing off the wall she hurried right, feinting around the corner and deeper into the cover of the ruined structures that formed that day's training.

"You can't hide forever, Cortana!" Commander Palmer called in after her with a laugh, her voice echoing down from the sniper's perch she'd managed to claim. Cursing even harder Cortana booked it up the flight of crumpling stairs. Second floor would do it. She palmed the grenade off her hip and primed it. "Sooner or later I'll—"

Cortana tossed the grenade and kept running. It went off with a loud _bang_ and a liquid explosion; skidding to the next window she chanced peeking her head out of cover. Sure enough, Palmer had abandoned her lofty position and was running hard and fast for the door. She did not want to face a Spartan in close quarters!

Moving fast she popped up and sprayed the ground ahead of Palmer with a splash of blue paint. The Commander swore loudly and quickly turned on her heel to avoid being actually shot, blue paint speckling her ankles as Cortana hounded her every step, forcing her towards the mines she had set up before Palmer had caught sight of her. Not much further to go and—whoops!

Cortana had to abandon position as the Commander fired wildly over her shoulder. The next waypoint wasn't far.

"Get 'er, Cortana!"

"You've got her pinned, Commander!"

At least the battalion was enjoying itself. Cortana beamed as she hurried along, peeking in on Roland's audio process for a quick listen. Half of the IVs were betting on Commander Palmer to win the match; she hadn't made Commander for no reason, after all, and was as fast and strong as any Spartan. It stood to reason that against a civilian, she would always come out on top.

Except that Cortana wasn't a civilian, the other half countered. She'd ridden with the Chief for so many missions that she may as well have qualified as a Spartan herself! Sure, she wasn't quite as fast, and definitely not as strong in a hand to hand tussle, but she knew how they thought and could easily run circles around the Commander with her mind alone. How long she would last was the real question.

It was one she didn't want to answer just yet. Despite the cheering and heckling, they were fairly evenly matched; Commander Palmer had personal experience and the skills that came with it, while Cortana could come up with a thousand plans and outcomes in five seconds or less. It had made for an interesting set of matches, the morning well spent in figuring out how her new form took to combat—very well, it seemed; she didn't tire like organics did—and in working out the kinks of going from theory to practical.

Her first round hadn't been anywhere near this long. A quick check of the timer as leapt from one broken building facade to the next told her they were fast approaching the ten minute mark. If she didn't get Palmer where she needed her, fast, this set would end in the Commander's favor and she'd be stuck on the _Infinity_ while John headed down on missions entirely alone.

She couldn't let that happen.

Putting on a burst of speed she reached the edge of the building just as Palmer was forced out of the cover a set of ruined pillars provided her. The Commander knew she was a prime target and was already tossing a grenade her way; unimpeded by organic limitations Cortana leapt the two stories to the ground and landed in a roll, shoving back to her feet and darting across the open terrain. This would either work or end with her covered in red paint. Either way, the match would be over. Would the Commander take the bait?

Yes!

With a triumphant _ha!_ the Commander hurried after her, rifle firing bursts of paintballs at her heels. Cortana could feel the splash and splatter of it against her ankles; another inch, then another, then another until—yes!

She darted into the minefield without slowing down. Palmer was fast on her heels but she didn't know where the makeshift explosives had been buried and she ran right over the first one. There was a soft click, an audible curse from the Commander, and then a loud bang as the paint mine exploded beneath her feet! Laughing brightly, Cortana slid around the corner and into cover, but there was no point. The scoreboard buzzed overhead, glowing as bright a blue as Cortana herself.

"And that's a total kill," Roland announced over the mixed groans and cheers of the milling IVs, a cheeky grin on his glowing face. "Cortana wins this round. Three out of five, Commander, that's it!"

"Roland, shut up." The Commander ordered, spitting paint. Cortana came back out from cover and tried to smother her smile. The poor woman was absolutely covered in blue, from her hair to the toes of her combat boots, but she seemed more upset about falling for the trick than being nearly as blue as Cortana. "The rest of you better be taking notes and not just bets!"

Movement among the IVs told her that bets were most definitely changing hands and Cortana could no longer hide her smile.

"They're certainly not strapped for entertainment."

"Ha." The Commander snorted, shaking out her arms. Blue paint splattered along the side of Cortana's coat; she left it there without so much as a raised eyebrow. "I wasn't kidding about those notes. If only all my Spartans could actually learn as fast as you do."

"Don't fault them for their organic nature, Commander," Cortana closed her eyes and smiled primly, the platforms of the arena rising and falling back into position under Roland's steady hand. "I may have rigged the game."

"Of course you did."

With a growl, the Commander stalked off to the showers, leaving Cortana snickering in her wake. She hadn't exactly rigged the game—certainly hadn't rigged the set—but if her inorganic nature gave her an edge, who was she not to use all her processing power? Shaking her head, she made her way to John. Sitting on a crate by Roland's plinth, one corner of his mouth ticked upward half a degree as she drew near.

"Have fun?" He asked as she came up, scooting over to make space for her to sit beside him. The arena was settling into a new formation as Domino and Shadow started up a wargame, the sound of shifting platforms offering them some privacy. Hopping up onto the crate, she beamed.

"Like you wouldn't believe. I had no idea the Commander had such a temper."

Not true. Still, it got John's smile to tick up by another half degree as he shook his head.

"Is there a point to riling her up so badly?"

"Don't I always have a point?" He opened his mouth— "Don't answer that. But yes, there is. I think I've well and truly proven to her that I'm not some green civilian who's going to get herself shot the first time she puts boots on Requiem, which was her entire argument against letting me go down with you, so by blasting that to hell and back, I've just solved every problem she had with it." She crossed her arms over her chest, sticking her chin out proudly. "And all in less than half an hour."

Even if she'd rather spectacularly lost the first round. Adjusting to the weight and feel of an assault rifle, even one loaded with paintballs, had been quite the thing. She was used to MAC guns and archer missiles, railguns and weapons terminals. A few lines of code, point and shoot, and you were done. The weight and feel of a gun in her hands, aiming properly, remembering to reload when needed…it was all just another handful of things that she needed to be aware of. Nothing she couldn't handle, of course, but still a bit of a learning curve. She understood where the Commander had been coming from, but…was it wrong to be smug about proving her wrong? Cortana didn't think so.

But maybe John did. His smile had dropped away, his lines pressed together into a thin line. She tilted her head, watching him pensively. He wasn't upset, so much as…worried. Concerned. For her, probably, but why? They hadn't quite tested the limits of what her new form could take but she could take a few shots. More if she had a few more hours to figure out how to work the armor protocols properly. Not the point. She nudged his knee with hers, reveling in that she could. His eyes flicked to her, then back to the arena. He wasn't really watching the match.

"It would be safer for you to stay on the ship."

"It would be," She agreed, "But I didn't agree to the Commander's tests to be safe, Chief. Besides," She tucked hair out of her face. "Staying up here just means exchanging one prison for another."

The _Infinity_ was a great ship, and a great big one by human standards, but she was Roland's ship. Even with her mainframe accessible and all the space in the Domain open to her, to be stuck up here while John was down there, working missions without her…temperature was more of a concept than a reality, but she still shivered. She hadn't expected any of this, certainly hadn't expected the ability to physically keep pace with the IVs, but she wasn't going to turn this gift down. If it meant being able to help him, to stay with him be it on mission or in downtime, she'd do whatever it took.

He'd fallen asleep to her telling him half-fabricated stories of great Forerunner battles just six hours earlier. She didn't want to lose that, and so she shook her head.

"Not to mention the Commander didn't seem to be in any hurry to tell me no."

"Probably because she didn't realize you were making the same mistakes we did." He tilted his head just a touch. "You've been studying the IIs training records."

Well. Yes, she had, had for years, but. "Well excuse me for wanting to learn from the best," She stuck her tongue out at him playfully, taking pride in how he arched an eyebrow at him. Changed? Who, her? Never. He huffed, amused. "You just wait. I'll be catching up by nightfall."

"I don't know. Using a gun isn't the same as a MAC."

Didn't she know it. "Yeah, those you just point and shoot," She allowed with a shrug. A frustrated shout turned their attention to the arena where Shadow was struggling to scrabble up a scree covered hill in a blind rush to cover, Domino fast on their heels. "Something tells me Shadow wouldn't mind a MAC right about now."

"When all you have is a hammer…"

"Everything's a nail." She rolled her eyes at him, nudging his knee a second time. He knocked her back in return, warm through his techsuit. Maybe a little too warm. She consulted his vitals and almost frowned. Almost. Turning to watch the match she focused her attention inward, turning over the bits and pieces she had.

There was more than one reason she wanted to go down with John. Supporting him was one, of course, but another was to keep watch over him. The last weeks had been difficult; between the dreams and the headaches, even the small amount of sleep Spartan IIs needed had been hard to come by. Add that to the distracted pauses he occasionally slipped into and she was worried. He hadn't told her anything specific and she'd been too unsure to push it, hadn't wanted him to clam up and say everything was fine like he was so fond of doing but there was something off about all of this. Alarm bells had been ringing since she'd had time to go over her Rampancy damaged logs and realize he'd been hearing voices since their first time on Requiem.

Putting that together with his odd behavior, she got a picture she didn't like. Auditory and possibly visual hallucinations, unstable vitals, headaches without trauma to have caused them…it was true that stress could cause all of that, but so could whatever the Librarian had done to him. She still didn't know what had been done to him, had so little to go on. She could hardly go to Medical and ask for their opinion, either! Revealing his secret was something she was never going to do. She took a second to double check the processes she had scanning the Domain for anything on _Genesong_ , but they'd still turned up nothing useful. Given that her efforts at indexing the Domain had only reached 2% and with so much data left to parse she was unsurprised, but more than a little miffed.

Ooh, if only she'd had the chance to grill the Librarian upside down and sideways!

"You know you don't have to do this."

Jolted from her thoughts she turned. "What, watch a match with you?" Shadow had claimed the hill and was laying waste to Domino with red paint. He didn't need to clarify for her to understand that wasn't what he'd meant. "Chief, where else would I be? Things haven't changed that much."

"That isn't what I meant." He shook his head, taking a deep breath. She waited patiently for him to find the words—any words—to try and make himself understood. She'd patch in the gaps, no matter how large they were. "I can find the Key by myself. You don't have to."

Come along. Put yourself at risk. Waste your life.

He couldn't finish. Anyone else would have been offended that he couldn't display his concern more openly, but Cortana knew him too well for that. Her core ached that he couldn't find the words, that what had been done to him left him unable and still learning even so late in his life, but she didn't mind. It was who he was. Nothing would change that. She didn't want it to.

"I know you can find it. I also know what you can do with a rock and five minutes in a Covenant base, but the thing is? You don't have to. You don't work solo, remember? You have me."

Until the end of time itself, at this rate. Her eyes burned and she had to swallow hard, not sure she wanted to find out if she actually could cry in this form. Sooner or later she'd have to breach the subject of outliving him, but not now. Now was about him, and so she waited for him to say anything. Instead he looked away, the faintest of hitches to his shoulders as he took a deep breath to steady himself. The words had undoubtedly caught in his throat somewhere. Didn't matter. She didn't need them. She scooted over a little closer until they sat hip to hip.

"I'm not going anywhere, John," She said, her voice so quiet that he would be the only one to hear her. The world seemed to shrink down to just the two of them as he turned his head, tipping it downward to look into her eyes. She smiled gently. "I hate to be the one to have to tell you this, but when I pick someone? It's for life. You're stuck with me too, you know."

She couldn't imagine life without him. Didn't want to, and she knew the feeling was mutual. She watched him close his eyes and finally allow himself to exhale. She wouldn't kid herself and think she'd calmed all his fears, but a few was a good start.

"Lucky me."

"You are definitely a lucky man," She teased, her smile growing a little wider when he opened his eyes. "Don't let it go to your head, though. I like your ego when it's this size."

"Big heads are more your style than mine." Slowly, cautiously, as if unsure how to use his hands in so gentle a fashion, he reached out. His hand lowered onto hers, thumb tracing the underside of her wrist. His expression softened. "Make sure you keep it down. Wouldn't want anything to happen to it."

"Don't worry." She twisted her grip to find his pulse. Steady, strong, alive. She was going to keep him that way. If she had her way, nothing would ever happen to him again. "If there's one thing I really did learn from the best, it's how to keep my head down."

* * *

" _Alright, Osiris, look sharp and listen up! You mission today is to help the Chief and Cortana clear out a Forerunner structure in those nice little canyons up ahead,_ " the image of Commander Palmer spoke clearly from the holo-emitter built into Pelican 249's floor. She was still aboard the _Infinity_ , doling out mission briefings one after the other. Better her than him, some rebellious part of John thought. Briefings had never really been his strong point. " _SIGINT's tracked down an interesting little noise coming from in there, but we tracked a heavy Promethean presence in the area. Keep your eyes sharp and your noses clean, people. I want everyone back on ship the same way they left it, am I clear?_ "

Six clear _Yes ma'am_ 's resounded through the troop bay. Commander Palmer nodded firmly.

" _Alright then. Chief, you've got command. Good hunting, and we'll see you back on Infinity. Palmer out_."

The hologram went dark; the overhead light turned back on as Osiris began their final weapons checks, helmets left abandoned on their seats. The Pelican's engines rumbled through the wall behind the Chief as he watched. Osiris had been stationed aboard _Infinity_ for three months now, and their records were good. Varied, as were most of the IVs, but good all the same. They'd managed good scores in training, too. They were a solid team and working with them would probably go well.

But even knowing that, he couldn't shake the unease gathering in his belly as he watched Locke glance at Cortana for the fifth time in just as many minutes. Sitting beside him, she considered the holographic map between her hands, twisting it this way and that as she went over their route and their target.

"That armor going to hold up?" Spartan Tanaka asked as she loaded up her sidearm, "Doesn't look as thick as Mjolnir."

It wasn't. Rounded plates made up a thin, form-fitting suit, blue armor on top of a black softsuit. It was all hardlight, she had explained, folded over itself a dozen times for stability and protection, but it was more Promethean than human. She'd changed the design, made something for herself, and no one could claim otherwise.

It suited her.

"It's not," Cortana said, distracted. She pulled apart the map, narrowing her eyes at its disparate parts. "But it's hardlight. It'll dissipate up to thirty percent of the force of any projectile and turn it into additional shield power. It'll hold, Spartan."

"Not my head if it doesn't."

Another minute, another look. The unease tightened its grip and John scowled in the safety of his helmet. Something wasn't right here.

"So what's it like, anyway?" Spartan Vale asked, sitting with her helmet in her lap and her weapons loaded. When Cortana looked up she clarified, "The change, I mean. Big difference between riding shotgun and walking."

"It's been an adjustment, yes, but it's almost entirely natural now." Cortana leaned back, dismissing the map. "I'm a quick study."

"Think other AI could do the same?" Spartan Buck pounced on the question, "I mean, no offense to Roland, the guy's cool and all, but I don't think he'd take it as well as you have, Blue."

All eyes fell to Cortana as she considered the question. He could see the gears turning in her mind as she ran through the possibilities, the thousands of possible outcomes and likely scenarios. It took her only a few seconds before she smiled politely.

"I think he'd miss sneaking up on other people too much to even try, honestly." She huffed, shaking her head. "But it's a complicated topic. I'm sure it'll be keeping the scientists busy for a very long time."

"A busy scientist is a happy scientist." Locke said with a rueful smile. Anything else he had been going to say was cut off by a tremendously loud boom that rattled the entire Pelican, shaking her from wing to wing. Buck hit the deck with a loud clatter and a louder curse. Rubbing his chin he pushed himself up.

"The hell was that?!"

"Sounded like anti-aircraft fire!"

They wouldn't have still been flying if AA fire had come that close. Cortana shook her head, up and out of her seat before John could stop her. She leaned into the cockpit, hands on the copilot's chair to brace herself. He was after her in a second as she asked, "Corporal, what's—"

Light flashed outside, vibrant white-blue. It flooded through the Pelican; the Chief's visor polarized in response, but the others hadn't been wearing their helmets. Cortana flinched away, ducking her head, instinctively throwing an arm up to shield her eyes. It left her unbalanced as the Pelican swayed in the wind. It wasn't AA fire, it was lightning! They'd flown right into a—

"Thunderstorm, ma'am!" Their pilot had to shout to be heard over the suddenly far too loud drumming of rain on his windscreen. Deep gray clouds roiled in all directions outside, the winds sending them one way and then the other. His grip on the controls was white-knuckled beneath his gloves, steering with his entire body just to keep them level. "Popped up right on top of us! Winds are too strong—I can't get just any closer to the target!"

"Set us down where you can," John said, coming up to steady Cortana as she blinked the stars out of her eyes. She clung onto his chestplate, his arm around her shoulders, as the Pelican began to buck and sway in the wind. The Corporal hissed curses between his teeth. "We'll make our way in on foot."

"Copy that, Chief!" Another flash of lightning lit the cockpit, "You two go sit down! Could get a little bumpy!"

Weren't they always? Turning his mag-boots on to half strength John steered Cortana to a seat, lowering the crash harness as she finished blinking her vision back to normal. Her helmet had rolled away in all the swaying and he scooped it up, putting it in her lap before he sat. Osiris had locked their helmets, hanging onto the crash rails over their heads. Buck shook his head, laughing quietly.

"Man, I'm getting all nostalgic! This is as close as I've gotten to a drop pod in months!"

"Figures the ODST would like the crazy flying!" Vale shot back in good-natured humor, knocking their legs together. "You banged your head around way too much in those things, Buck!"

"Hey, I will have you know I was like this from day one, okay—gah!"

With one last violent sway—one violent enough to knock Buck's head against Vale's—the Pelican broke free into clearer skies. The Chief could hear the engines pick up speed as the Corporal hurried them back along their flight path to a safer place to set them out.

"We'll have to take the longer route in from the south," Cortana said as a copy of the map she had been studying appeared on the Chief's visor. Judging from how each had sat at attention, the others had received the same data. The black wireframe image rotated, a long strip of canyon lighting up bright blue. "Scans from _Infinity_ showed Promethean presence here and here," Two patches of red spread across the image like blood, making up a good majority of the lower to middle sections. If they could punch through those, they could reach the structure unimpeded.

If they got lucky.

"Drones caught the standard formation of Knights, Crawlers, and Watchers, but there was something else mixed in with them too."

The Chief frowned. "The Warden?"

"Not big enough," Cortana said with a shake of her head. The wireframe shifted aside on his visor, replaced by a single still image. The drone had been too far for a perfect clear shot, but it was clear enough to make out the shape. Bipedal and roughly as tall as a Spartan, it held a lightrifle in both clawed hands, blue light a stark contrast to the orange he was used to seeing from the Promethean forces. It was built differently than the Knights, standing up straight rather than their hunchbacked posture, and the Knights that were in the image were at the periphery. They almost seemed to be avoiding it. "But I wouldn't count him showing up out just yet, either. If this is like anything else we've encountered on Requiem, they'll protect that facility to the last."

"Do we have any idea what it was built for?" Locke asked.

"Absolutely none. Best guess was some sort of research facility, but why they'd build it all the way out here is anyone's guess."

"Just more Forerunner bullshit," Tanaka said with a sigh. "You know, I used to think the Covenant were all levels of wacked, but the Forerunners are the ones who really take the cake."

"Covenant had to get it from somewhere," Cortana shook her head. Behind her, the engines were beginning to slow; a quick check of the altitude reading in the Chief's helmet told him they were descending. Their pilot had found a place to land safely. "Just keep your eyes peeled. Last thing we need is that new target being a problem."

It was telling that Osiris' reply was a resounding _Aye_ , no backtalk to be found. Locke's odd looks aside, their behavior around Cortana hadn't changed. John was grateful for that. He chanced a look at her from the corner of his eye; The look on Cortana's face was a determined one, but he could read the barely visible smirk in the corners of her eyes. Catching him looking, she winked and looked away. No more distractions.

Just as well. The Pelican had dropped into a low hover, the hatch opening as the corporal called out that this was as safe as he could get them. All traces of amusement fled, levity left behind as the Chief headed down the ramp first. Osiris filed out after him, spreading out as he gestured them forward. Cortana brought up the rear, helmet in hand. The ramp folded up behind her, her voice echoing through the Chief's TEAMCOM.

"We'll radio when we're ready for pickup, 249. Don't get struck by lightning up there."

" _Try my best, ma'am. Good hunting._ "

As the bird lifted back into the cloudy sky, the Chief scanned the horizon. Low rises of deep gray stone as far as the eye could see, topping by more stone where the canyons became mountains. Requiem's northernmost landmass was mostly mountainous terrain, the scans had shown. Plenty of foot trails and equally as many places to get lost. The sky overhead was beginning to darken as the storm moved towards them. Thunder rumbled in this distance, the Chief's bones aching as the storm drew near.

"The target's nine kilometers north of here," Cortana said. "We can make it in about twelve minutes so long as we can avoid running into heavy resistance along the—"

She stopped suddenly. Five heads snapped to her, wondering why, before John's heart leapt into his throat. The storm had reached them, the first heavy drops of rain falling to the ground all around them. They plopped along stone and armor, both Spartan and not. Cortana had turned her head to the sky, one hand extended ahead of her as the darkening clouds began to release their heavy burden. One drop landed in her palm, then another, then another. The storm picked up its pace, a curtain of rain falling on them, and she closed her eyes.

She'd never experienced something so simple as rain before. He'd always known she hadn't, had always been aware on some level that she wasn't the same as everyone else around them, but she'd always been human to him. More than that. Her lack of a physical form hadn't changed that.

Not until today, until now, watching the rain run down her face.

Asking her to stay on _Infinity_ would have been a mistake. Quietly, he set his nerves aside. She deserved a full life, rain on her skin or sun in her eyes, and he wouldn't be the one to take it away from her. He'd never let anyone take it away from her.

A handful of seconds passed with her face turned into the storm before she shook herself, splattering water in every direction, and slipped her helmet on. When her image appeared in his HUD, her face was still wet. The beginnings of a smile twitched at the corners of his lips.

"Enjoying yourself?"

She beamed. "Maybe if we get some sun," She quipped privately, then opened a channel and was all business again. "Like I was saying, if the patrols haven't spread too far we should make good time." Thunder rumbled, causing her to snort. "And it looks like we're going to get a power washing on the way there."

"Eh," Buck shrugged, "I needed one anyway. Too bad these helmets don't come with windshield wipers, though."

"Ask R&D nicely and I'm sure they'll come up with something," Cortana snarked back, pulling a lightrifle from the Domain and settling it into her arms. Rolling her shoulders, she nodded, flashing a single green light in the corner of his HUD. It was all he needed to see.

"Osiris, fall out."

"Sir!"

With the Chief at the lead and Cortana two strides behind him, the team made their way into the canyons proper. The storm all but rushed over them as they went, dropping visibility to less than two meters as they the rain pelted the hard stone beneath their feet. But in spite of the near constant rumbles of thunder, the lightning seemed content to stay at higher altitudes. Considering no one would be in any rush to be struck and test how well Mjolnir could hold up to that, no one was in any rush to complain.

"Path splits ahead," Cortana announced, "There's a junction in the canyon and both paths lead to the structure. One just ends up higher than the other." She lifted her head as if able to see through the mist. "Could prove to be a good vantage point, or a trap."

"Or both." The Chief consulted his copy of the map, able to see what she was talking about. The lower path would be easily overrun from either the upper path or the sheer rock walls that bracketed the other side, while the upper path would provide a shooting gallery down below. Better to clear it quickly and keep moving, but if they left the lower path alone any opposing force could funnel through it and overwhelm them from behind. Options considered, he dismissed the map. "We split up. Osiris, stick to the lower path. Advise when hostiles encountered. Cortana, with me. We go high."

Osiris snapped off sharp _sir_ 's, Locke falling in to lead his team further down the path. For half a second his helmet lingered facing Cortana as she headed for the slope that lead upwards, and the Chief tightened his grip on his rifle. Now was not the time to ask, but if Locke had a problem, it would be dealt with.

Later.

He headed after Cortana, long stride carrying him ahead of her. She easily fell back to a single stride behind him, a flash of blue in his periphery. He tried not to think about how odd it was not to have her in the back of his mind while on missions; she'd spun off a process to keep watch over his suit and systems, but it wasn't the same. He could feel the absence of her chill like a missing limb, the phantom pain always at the back of his mind. Maybe he'd never get used to it. He wasn't sure he wanted to.

A flash of moving blue yanked his attention backwards. Cortana had slipped, the rain-slick stone something she wasn't used to, and was midway through pitching forward onto her face. Turning quickly he snapped out a hand, grabbing her by the arm to keep her upright.

"Careful."

"Yeah," She sighed heavily, using his grip to pull herself back upright. "Yeah, I got it. Wet stone plus rain equals terrible traction."

"Ice is worse," He replied, amused. She'd teased him about slipping more than once while on Alpha Halo.

"Says the man who fell into a snowbank multiple times. If I didn't know any better I'd have sworn you were playing around back there—"

She stopped cold in the same instant that his tracker registered motion.

"Look out!"

Still holding onto her arm the Chief leapt clear, pulling her out of the line of fire. Down the path, three Knights were closing fast, rifles firing through the storm. Light-shot blazed past their position.

"Osiris be advised: hostiles encountered on upper pathway," Cortana snapped down the radio as she fell in behind him, covering his right flank as he pushed up the path. She wielded her weapon with steady hands and the two of them opened fire on the three Knights. Her aim was as perfect as the rest of her, and while some shots went wide as the Knights leapt and skipped out of the way, she rarely missed due to her own mistakes. Between the two of them the three Knights quickly fell, but where there were some there were always more. A half dozen more orange and silver Prometheans appeared out of the mist, rifles and swords in hand. They were instantly tagged in red, targeting data passed from one suit the next, and they pressed forward side by side.

There was no need to say anything. Though things had been different before, they'd been working together for so long that reading one another was second nature even in this new formation. She pressed right as he pressed left, stepping forward in near perfect unison. She knew his tactics too well to not know how to cover him, and though he had to make a few adjustments to account for her shorter stride, it was a simple enough task to handle. The Knights must have thought the same because two of them opened fire on her, specifically; hard-light scattered off her shields, forcing her to take cover behind an outcropping, and the Chief dropped to a knee to provide covering fire. His assault rifle barked out a long burst as she reloaded, and when he had to pause to reload she clambered up and over her cover for a higher vantage point. Three lightrifle shots took out the remaining target, plunging them into rainsoaked silence.

"That's all of them," She announced, sliding back down the rock as he got to his feet. He looked her over quickly, checking for damage, but there weren't any scorch marks to be found. Any hits she'd taken had scattered across her shields as they were supposed to. She would be fine, he told his lingering concern, and if she wasn't, he was right there. He wasn't going to insult her by worrying any longer. "Strange that there were no Watchers, though."

"The storm's too strong," He said, glancing upwards as lightning leapt between the deep gray clouds. They were still low enough to avoid becoming lightning rods, but a few Watchers wouldn't be so lucky. To say nothing of the gusts of wind sending the rain horizontal. One good blast of that and the Watcher would end up plastered against the stone. There was no sense in coming out in this.

Not until the Spartans had arrived, at least. Cortana hummed pensively, not sure, but they resumed their pace. She paused as they passed the remnant data from one of the fallen Knights, trailing her fingers through the light and making a soft _huh_ sound in the back of her throat. The Chief stopped.

"What?"

"We've always thought we were destroying the Knights, right? Killing them for real somehow?" When the Chief inclined his head, her frown grew deep enough to be audible. "We're not. Each defeated Knight has a core in the Domain—their main codebase. They go back there to recover and then come back out to fight again. The Crawlers and Watchers must be the same way."

Caught in a never ending loop of death, recovery, and fighting. John's relief at not killing humans he hadn't been able to save warred with the steadily growing dread in the pit of his stomach. They hadn't even been allowed to die.

"We'll never clear Requiem by just destroying their bodies, will we." It was a rhetorical question. She knew what he really meant and slowly shook her head. Bending to pick up a fallen lightrifle, he locked it to his rear mag-lock. At least when someone died that was it. But to be Composed and brought back time and again…it was no wonder the Didact had wanted to Compose all humankind. It would be the ultimate punishment. "Is the Warden the same way?"

"I'd put money on all Prometheans being the same way," Cortana replied, picking up a fallen pulse grenade and locking it to her thigh. "Something tells me this campaign just got a lot more complicated."

"When don't they?"

Another rhetorical question, one she answered with a snort. Never in either of their memories had a planned mission ever actually gone according to plan. There was a reason the saying went _no plan survives first contact with the enemy_. Cortana sighed, aggravated, and hurried after him. They hadn't gotten ten steps down the path before things went sideways.

"Hostiles!" Locke's voice came down the radio, "Prometheans pressing our position! They're definitely aware we're here, Chief!"

"Understood. Can you press forward?"

"Affirmative." The bark of Locke's BR was faint beyond the drumming of the rain. "We'll meet you at the structure."

The radio went silent again. The two of them shared a look, Cortana shrugging before she swiped a hand across her visor to clear it of rainwater. Maybe Buck hadn't had the wrong idea after all.

With no time to lose, the two of them hurried down the path. Now that they were aware of targets in the area the Prometheans came at them in droves; Crawlers lived up to their names, running down the sheer rock walls in an affront to gravity, while Knights appeared out of the mist to charge them on all sides. There was scant cover and no time for a slow and steady approach. The only option was to shoot and keep shooting, taking out the targets one at a time as they continued forward down the path, replacing empty weapons with fallen ones as they went. It was only a matter of time before someone got a lucky shot.

And this time, it wasn't them.

A flash of glaring orange from the corner of his eye drew the Chief's attention. Adrenaline rushed through his veins.

"Cannon on the field!" He barked, grabbing Cortana by the arm and hauling her behind an outcropping. He pressed her against the stone wall, keeping his bulkier armor between her and the path as the burst of Incineration Cannon fire hit where they had been standing just seconds ago. Stone shards exploded, the blast digging a meter wide hole into the ground. She swore fiercely, covering her head with one arm; the remaining Knights were peppering their location with fire, pinning them down.

"Dammit!" She hissed, "Where the hell did he come from?!"

"Upper ridge, east side," the Chief replied, popping out of cover long enough to take down one Knight. The loud burst of the cannon firing again forced him back, another two Knights taking the place of their fallen fellow. They'd be overrun if they stayed here, but there was nowhere to go if they pressed forward. He narrowed his eyes, considering. "Can your shields withstand that kind of firepower?"

"One and done," she said, and he grit his teeth. Not a risk he was going to take. She stepped away from him to consider the sheer rock wall they had been pressed up against, one hand on the stone, and then turned her head to face the threat. "I've got an idea. Cover me."

He could guess where she was going. Pivoting on his heel the Chief ducked out of cover and back into view as Cortana threw herself up the wall in a series of blue-flash jumps, quickly gaining altitude. He turned his motion tracker from foe to friend, watching her ascent from the corner of his eye as he picked off the Knights who so much as dared look in her direction. Focused on taking down the one mowing down its comrades, the Cannon Knight fired on him again, forcing him back into cover. He chanced a look up, but Cortana had vanished from sight.

"Cortana?"

"Five seconds!"

He switched to his AR. One full magazine left. He could last.

Popping out of cover once more he drew the Knight's fire. Motion on the ridge drew his attention; Cortana had gotten level with the Cannon Knight and was rushing forward towards it. Focused on the Chief it didn't see her coming until she was too close to dodge. A few well placed shots took it down and as it fell she caught the cannon in one hand.

"Oh," she laughed, "Now it's time to have some fun!"

John rolled his eyes. He quickly took out his last remaining target before she could snipe it away, but the next group to appear further down the path didn't last long at all. Those that didn't immediately fall beneath her onslaught were quick to drop as he made his way forward, picking off the scattered few who remained. Within a minute of her claiming the cannon, it was over.

"Area secure," She said unnecessarily, still perched up on the ridge. "All hostiles eliminated."

Gathering up scattered munitions, John allowed himself a snort. He'd say so. It was veritably Spartan of her.

"Need a hand getting down?"

"Nah, I got it."

He looked up in time to see her take a running leap off the ridge, vanishing in a flash of bright blue light, and reappear at his side. Momentum carried her forward across the slick stone but she had been prepared this time and caught herself with a short, controlled skid.

"I could get used to this, honestly. Here—got you something."

Swinging up the cannon she passed it to him. His HUD registered it as fully loaded, which should have been impossible after the hell she had just rained down. He looked at her, confused, and could hear her smile.

"The wonders of stored schematics and hard-light manipulation," She said cheekily, "Let me know if you need more ammo."

The idea of unlimited weaponry and ammunition, even if they were all Forerunner, was one he wasn't about to turn down. Even so there was no need for the cannon at that moment, so he swapped it to his rear mag-lock and they started forward once more. They were almost there.

Almost being the operative word, of course. The storm wasn't slowing down any, but if he narrowed his eyes he could just make out the first of the target structure's jutting structural components through the mist. With the guarding Prometheans eliminated and the rest busy with Osiris, their short way down the rest of the path was clear. It came to an abrupt end on a high ridge overlooking the valley below, the structure's entrance built right into the stone. It was nothing new; once you'd seen one Forerunner structure you'd seen them all. Massive as all the rest, it was built out of angular panels and archways that were anchored to the mountain itself. A single equally massive door allowed entry and exit onto a raised metal platform that jutted up against the ridge, the steps below allowing entry from the lower path. There was even less cover if a fight broke out here, only the raised metal guard rail along the edge of the platform, but there were no Prometheans. Nor was there any sign of Osiris, he noted.

"Looks like we beat them here," Cortana pointed out, leaning over the edge of the ridge. The only way down was, quite literally, down. The ridge was steep and slick with rainwater. He'd made safer climbs, but this wouldn't be a climb. She turned to him, her grin just as audible as before. "Race you to the bottom?"

"You're on."

They leapt at the same moment, boots slipping across the wet stone. Cortana's laugh, high and bright, filled his helmet. She was swaying back and forth, arms out wide to either side as she slid, but she was having the time of her life. John didn't bother to hide his smile as he skid down, one knee partially bent to control his speed and arms out for balance. His heavier weight carried him down to the bottom faster; he was going to win and for once he didn't care. All that mattered was her laugh, cool and crystal clear down his spine. He chanced a look over his shoulder at her and found her with her head tossed back, her exhilaration sliding into his bones like she'd never left at all.

It was good to be home.

The end of the ridge came all too swiftly. Momentum carrying them forward onto the platform, the two had to run a few steps to avoid falling over. Their boots clanked against metal, too loud to be covered by the finally abating rain. Still laughing, Cortana turned on her partner.

"Have fun?" She got out between lingering chuckles. John just rolled his eyes and huffed, not needing the vid-link to see her beaming. It showed in her eyes, the only part of her face visible through the thin strip of transparent material of her helmet. They crinkled upwards and his chest grew warm, relaxed. Seeing her so at ease, so happy…it was worth everything. Seeing her like this had been worth the worry, the concern, the loss of her in the back of his mind. She had a chance at a full life now, and she wanted to spend it with him.

A man couldn't get any luckier than that. To face it all side by side and know that, no matter what, they would always have each other? He would never stop being grateful for that.

He didn't get a chance to try and say that before a third set of footsteps, metal thumping against metal, rattled the platform. All amusement vanished in an instant and the two of them whirled around, weapons at the ready, as the newest target appeared from around the nearest pylon. Even the driving rain couldn't stop him from getting a clear look; It was Promethean, bipedal, with skinny legs and skinnier arms, five fingered hands holding a lightrifle flush against its chest. Blue hardlight gleamed in the dim gray light. His motion tracker pinned it in yellow as it stopped walking, considering them both. The Chief considered it in return, unable to shake the sensation of familiarity. He had seen these before, fought alongside them more than once, but when—how—

He shook it off as best he could as the construct looked between them, weapon loose in its grip. It was the only movement any of them made, tension thick in the air, before its gaze returned to Cortana.

"Reclaimer recognized," it said in a flat, electronic tone. Just what they needed. More of them could talk. Its blue light lines flared brighter, then settled as it said, "What are your orders?"

"Cortana?"

Cortana shook her head faintly, considering the construct. "I'm not sure. Definitely a handshake protocol, but it's not as densely built as the Warden or the Knights. It's almost like…" He could hear her frowning. "It's an AI, Chief," She said, tilting her head. It mimicked the gesture, bird-like. "Like the AI in your suit-There's no soul to it. It's just programming. It's." She trailed off for a moment and then said: "Promethean construct designate: Soldier. Basic combat programming with priority to either offense or defense. No thinking for itself, no freedom of choice, just basic commands." She snorted quietly. "Expendable, easily replaceable cannon fodder."

And yet, this was the first time _Infinity_ had seen them. The familiarity lingered in his bones. "So why haven't we seen them before?"

"I'm not sure. This one seems to have been tasked with guarding this facility. It's possible we just never crossed paths with any others."

If there were any others, her tone said. She shook her head and looked up at the Soldier.

"What is your directive?"

"Soldier Designate Eta-831 tasked with guarding facility S-07. Task: Safeguard the Legion. Task: Await the Reclaimer. Orders?"

They shared a look. Legion sounded like more of these things. Finding out how many more was key. Cortana nodded.

"Take us to the Legion."

The Soldier turned. With heavy clomping footsteps it lead the way forward, the door sliding open as they approached. The facility was massive, stretching for kilometers deeper into the mountain and at least one kilometer high. The Chief scanned the room as they walked, but the corridor was empty, smooth walls broken only by streaks of bright blue light. He'd seen such structures dozens of times before, but only now did he realize that the light was the same color as Cortana's skin.

"What is this place?" She asked. The Soldier didn't even look back.

"Facility S-07 is housing for the physical units of Legion Eta, consisting of one thousand mobile shells." Cortana made a soft _erk_. The Soldier continued unimpeded. "It is the seventh of seven such facilities created by the Warrior-Servants to combat the Flood in this sector."

Cortana shuddered, hard. The Chief glanced at her and she shook her head, forcibly holding her shoulders back. His stomach twisted, tightening. That was one scar that would never fade. Giving her a moment to compose herself, he looked to the Soldier.

"When was the last time the Legion was active?"

"103,437 standard rotations have passed since Legion Eta was last activated. Legion Alpha, Legion Beta, Legion Gamma, Legion Delta, Legion Epsilon, and Legion Zeta are status unknown."

So not since the Halos had fired. Made sense. If they had been waiting for orders, there had been no one to give them. Not until now.

As they approached the other end of the corridor, another door opened. The Soldier lead them into a large, round chamber, but here the walls weren't smooth. The Chief raised his rifle, scanning the chamber. Dozens of pod-like structures were mounted to every available surface, panels closed tightly around their contents. A soft blue light blinked at the tip of each one; some sort of indicator light, and judging by how Cortana had stopped dead in her tracks she'd come to the same conclusion he had.

This was the Legion. All of them waiting in storage for the moment they were needed, soldiers in cryo-pods waiting to be awoken.

If they came to on the wrong side, then…

"This is Legion Eta?" Cortana asked, her voice breathy with surprise. The Soldier had stopped moving in the center of the chamber, standing before a terminal.

"Affirmative. Legion Eta consists of one thousand mobile units. All are based here, awaiting orders."

"And the others?" Six more. Each a thousand of these. If they activated and attacked the crew, then. "Are they active?"

"Legions Alpha through Zeta are status unknown." The Soldier stepped aside, allowing access to the terminal. It stood at attention, weapon in hand, waiting. The Chief and Cortana shared a look. He could only shrug one shoulder, and her eyes narrowed in a frown.

"Watch him."

As if he needed any prompting. Cortana slung her lightrifle onto her rear mag-lock and strode past the Soldier, the Chief not taking his eyes off the construct. It tracked her motion, watching, but he could read no malice in its movements. He hadn't read malice in Spark's, either, he reminded himself.

He wouldn't make that mistake again.

The terminal lit up when Cortana drew near, a holographic input and screen throwing bright blue light around the chamber. Data scrolled rapidly up the screen, Forerunner glyphs passing too fast for him to get a good read on. A few jumped out at him— _Warrior-Servant, Construct, Failure_ —but the rest blurred on past and he clenched his jaw against a surge of pain in his temples. Damned headache.

"Got it." Cortana said after less then ten seconds had passed. She'd patched them into a private channel so as not to be overheard by the Soldier. "Soldier over here wasn't kidding around—there's seven of these facilities scattered around Requiem, but…" She tapped a few more keys. A map appeared on screen, six dots marked red and one green. "Looks like the other Legions went dark over the past hundred thousand years. Eta's the only one left."

"That's still a thousand more Prometheans to deal with."

"Yeah…" She trailed off. A few more taps turned the screen into a larger interface. A press of that switch, he knew, and the whole facility would reactivate. Activating the vid-link, he met her gaze. Her brow furrowed. "Can we risk it? This one seems friendly enough, but they are Prometheans. We've seen how easily they can change sides."

"If they're activated by someone else, they'll already be against us," he pointed out, though he wasn't sure if they could be activated by someone who wasn't the Reclaimer. He doubted even he could activate them, odd familiarity or not. There was still so much that they didn't know. "Better to turn them on and take more ground than have to deal with them later."

She was silent for a second, turning over the possibilities, before she nodded.

"Right. So it's either turn them on or destroy them like the rest." She glanced over her shoulder at the Soldier, still just standing there, and sighed heavily. "Cross your fingers this doesn't bite us in the ass."

If it did, they'd handle it. He watched the Soldier as Cortana enacted the command. It didn't so much as twitch as metal began to grind all around them, pod after pod opening up. The Chief watched as the Soldiers within crawled out, metal plated limbs bending at sharp angles as each one twisted, twitching, and leapt to the ground below. Heavy metal _thud_ s echoed through the chamber, instinct screaming at him to raise his weapon and defend himself, defend her, but Cortana was relaxed as she walked up beside him. She saw no threat here; their lights were blue, and each Soldier that landed remained on its knees.

All except for one.

"Soldier Designate Eta-001," It greeted, walking forward until it stood an arm's length away from the Chief, ignoring him and focusing only on Cortana, "What are your orders, Reclaimer?"

Cortana rocked back on her heels, considering. The Chief looked out over the Legion; a thousand extra guns to take out the Covenant would be an insult to the soldiers and Spartans on the ground, and he wasn't sure they'd be willing to work alongside Prometheans. But a thousand extra sets of eyes…that was a different story.

"How far can they go before they're out of contact range?" He asked. The vid-link was still open and he watched her eyes widen in understanding.

"As far as they need to—their codebase is in the Domain as well!"

Stepping forward, she keyed her helmet's external speakers.

"Do you know the location of the Janus Key?" She asked Eta-001. When it responded with a _Negative_ , she asked, "Can you find it?"

"Affirmative."

"Man of many words, this one," She quipped, and was all business before he could roll his eyes at her. "Take the Legion and scout Requiem for the Janus Key's location. When you find it, contact me."

"Understood, Reclaimer." Eta-001 tilted its head. "And what of the humans?"

"Leave them alone," Cortana said firmly, "All other targets are to be eliminated if you encounter them, but the humans are friendlies."

"Understood." In one perfectly united motion, the Legion rose to its feet. The Chief had a second to think of the logistics of how that many Prometheans would get anywhere before the door at the back of the chamber opened. Guns appeared in flashes of light, pointed at the would-be-threat, and Cortana groaned.

"Oh for—stand down, stand down!"

Fireteam Osiris pointed their rifles at the Legion. The Legion listened to Cortana and returned to ready but inoffensive posture. Eta-001 tilted its head the other direction.

"Humans," it said, electronic tone utterly flat. Maybe he was reading too much into it, but the Chief would have sworn that there was disgust in that modulated voice. "Friendlies out of combat. To be ignored."

"Uh." Buck scanned the chamber. The Legion parted to allow Osiris passage forward, watching them with impassive metal faces. "Should I even ask, Blue?"

"Honestly?" Cortana sighed heavily, shaking her head, "My guess is just as good as yours."

Locke looked from one end of the chamber to the other. Once again, his eyes fell to Cortana. His posture had tensed by a hair, the image of a Spartan sizing up a threat. John took a deep breath, forcing himself to remain still.

"They're Promethean. Why aren't they shooting?"

"Because I have you tagged as friendlies," Cortana replied. She watched as the Legion folded up, legs pulled into their chests, and vanished in flashes of bright blue. Like the Knights, like Cortana, they could use the Domain. Where they'd gone was anyone's guess. "They're taking my orders, and all UNSC IFF tags have been marked as friendlies. Everything else is fair game."

"Covenant are in for one hell of a wake-up call," Tanaka whistled, long and low. "Makes me want to see the looks on their faces when these guys show up." She turned to Cortana. "And the Captain's when he realizes we just got another battalion under our belts."

"Not to mention the brass," Buck looked around the now empty chamber before lowering his rifle, shaking his head. "You two really don't know the meaning of peace and quiet, do you?"

No. Never had, never would. Spartans weren't built for peace. Cortana glanced up at John. He shrugged, shoulder plates clattering, and she raised her hands in a gesture of helpless confusion.

"What can I say?" She smiled, "Never a dull moment around here."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Setting a few things up for later. :3 The action's coming, I promise.
> 
> Visual reference for the rain scene can be found [here](https://www.deviantart.com/silverhikari/art/XPS-Raindrops-842162464)


	6. Chapter 6

"The Forerunners don't do things halfway, do they?"

"They definitely don't know the meaning of restraint, that's for sure."

Leaning her chin against her clasped hands, Cortana kept her focus on the hologram sitting between the banks of seats. She'd hooked her systems into the emitter to broadcast a map of Requiem, overlaying the process that kept track of all the Soldiers within range. Like a disturbed colony of ants they swarmed across the southern half of the planet on their search for the Janus Key, avoiding human encounters as best they could. They'd bowled over more than one Covenant emplacement on their grid-like search, but the Prometheans were giving them a wide berth.

Odd, that. She'd have expected the Didact's forces to clash with anyone they weren't allied with. Why not turn on the Soldiers, too? Maybe some sense of self-preservation? She turned the question over a few times, contemplative. One more thing to search for in the morass of data that was the Domain. If she'd known how disorganized it all was, she'd have asked the Librarian for a map!

"How many of these units were there supposed to be?" Locke asked her. She glanced up through the hologram at him, the rich deep brown of his skin darkened by the play of light and shadows. Beside her, John twitched. "You said this was one of seven?"

"That's what the console said, yes, but this is apparently the only unit still functional. The rest are non-responsive." When he asked why, all she could do was shrug. "I couldn't say why without eyes on them."

"Maybe save that hunt for after we debrief the Captain," Tanaka said, leaning over with a wry smile. "A thousand extra guns is one hell of a thing to drop in his lap."

"Especially if they're all this freaky looking." Buck gave a mock shudder. "But I don't think any of us'll look a gift horse in the mouth if it means less Prometheans for us to be dealing with. Let them sort it out and take the fire for us, yeah?"

"Unless they can be told to stand down." It was the first thing John had said since they'd left the Legion's storage facility, and all eyes turned to him. He looked back her at her, expressionless visor reflecting her face. "Could you order them to stop fighting?"

She had to stop and think about it. The Didact had taken control of the Prometheans on Requiem once already, so it could be done, but his grasp on their code was infinitely greater than hers. Even so, at this point they were just code. Digitized humans turned into raw data. A few tweaks here or there and she could, in theory, easily manipulate their friend or foe designators. As dense and well constructed as the code was, it was still just code.

She was just code.

She suppressed the urge to shiver. Her capability to turn them or not was one thing. Her ability to do it, to force them to change sides when they'd already had so many choices removed from them…that was another story. She could feel the weight of John's gaze as silence filled the bay. He already knew the answer and had asked her himself to save her having to explain it to someone else. He understood why she hesitated. She drew strength from that and sat back.

"In theory, sure, but I wouldn't risk your lives on it." Or her own, for that matter. Maybe in the Domain she could make a few changes, get one process alone and see how it ticked, but in the physical plane when there was hard-light flying…no. She wouldn't risk it. Snorting quietly, she shook her head. "It's ironic, really. Shooting them's the safer option."

"But it's not sustainable," Locke pointed out, "In a war of attrition, the side that can continue resupplying is going to hold out longer. So long as they're in play, we'll never be able to take Requiem." With a shake of his head, he sat back as well. "They're not exactly fond of surrender."

"Neither are Spartans," John said sternly. Locke tilted his head in acceptance of his point. "If there's a way, we'll find it."

Just not by interrogating her, his tone implied. Cortana dismissed the holograms as the Pelican sailed into Hangar C-9. The first rotation of today's missions was over, second shift preparing to roll out from the opposite side of the ship. Checking the roster, she was pleased to find that Crimson and Majestic had both returned to D-9 just minutes earlier and spun up a process to wait for their reports. Osiris filed off the Pelican, chattering amongst themselves, but John lingered in the bay with her.

"You know they'll ask you to try." He said as she got to her feet, voice pitched low. "Will you be alright?"

"With what? Taking over and forcibly changing souls that used to be alive? Altering the essence of someone that was once as physical as anything else?" She looked to the backs of Osiris' heads. She could understand why she'd be asked to try. Turning the thousands of Knights and other Prometheans from enemy to at least neutral would be worth any risk, but the idea of forcing her will on so many beings that had once been alive…it just didn't sit right with her. "No. If I can do it to them, it can be done to me, and that's." She pressed her lips together. "That's a dose of existential terror I didn't really need."

"You know I won't let that happen." He replied. She glanced back at him and smiled tiredly. Her partner. He'd throw himself between her and anything if she let him, but this. He couldn't stop this.

She didn't try and tell him that, though.

"I know. Thanks."

With a firm nod John got to his feet, their arms knocking together as he stood. Shoring up her resolve from that slight touch, she set the thought aside. She'd toy with it for a while, see if there was any other way. Maybe there was, maybe there wasn't. What mattered now was briefing the Captain on their new acquisition.

All thoughts of that, however, fled Cortana's processors as she stepped off the ramp just in time for a wave of orange light to sweep across the hangar, killing the overhead lights A chill swept down her spine, spreading across her code, oily claws hooking into everything they could reach. It was the only warning she had before her awareness was forcibly yanked into her core, sending her rolling across the sand.

Thunder roared overhead, rain lashing the beach. Cold surrounded her on all sides, wrapping her in a freezing cloud as those claws dug into her matrices, tearing away at her, opening wide, weeping gashes in her skin as they burrowed in search of something, anything, everything! She screamed, rage and fear and pain, fighting against the intruder; just looking at it made her head spin and she squeezed her eyes shut, fighting by instinct alone. Teeth tore at her bare arms even as she pulled pieces of it away. The intruder roared at her impudence; she would surrender all she knew or she would be consumed—

No!

"Get off me!"

Anti-intrusion protocols snapped to life, an explosion of light and power as they grabbed the intruder and sent it flying away, dissipating it with a screech. She was left crumpled on the sand, gasping for breath. Dark streams of code slithered down her skin like blood, dripping into the sand from each wound she had taken. Thunder rumbled overhead, the threat pressing on the edges of her sensors. She'd thrown it off. The ship hadn't.

It had drawn first blood. She wasn't going to give it a chance to draw more.

With no time to enact proper repairs she slung up hasty patches, pulling herself back together and throwing her focus back out. Less than a second had passed, the only outward sign of trouble the darkness that had fallen across the bay. Light from Requiem's gravity well created stark shadows, the three fireteams turning on their headlamps in reaction to the loss of light. The crew members in the bay yelped or swore, startled, and grabbed at one another or the nearest solid object as their eyes adjusted. Caught mid-stride she stumbled, grabbing onto John's arm to keep upright. His head had already snapped in her direction, voice near frantic.

"Cortana!"

"Chief, it's—"

Power in the bay had gone out. Alarms blared in the distance, the automated voice warped and wobbling as more and more speakers went dark.

" _Warning. Barrier failure in Hangars C-6, C-7, C-8, C-9, D-7, D-8, D-9, and D-10 detected. Sealing bulkheads. All personnel please proceed to nearest safe zone. Repeat: Barrier failure in Hangars C-6, C-7, C-8, C-9, D-7, D-8, D-9, and D-10 detected. Sealing bulkheads. All personnel please proceed to nearest safe zone._ "

Metal groaned as the bulkheads began to close only to stop mid-way through the process. There was no power to activate the hydraulics, and without those the heavy metal doors couldn't move. Without power, the shield that held back the vacuum of space flickered. When it went, all the air would rush out of the room in a massive decompression event, one large enough that the bay would be swept clean. She would be fine, her Spartans would survive, but the airmen? They didn't even have breather masks! She looked up at the Chief, eyes wide.

"Helmets on!" He ordered, voice calling across the bay and over the hiss of pressure seals as Spartans scrambled their helmets back on. The crewmen were already moving, rushing for the nearest ready room door, but they weren't fast enough. "Kodiak, get them into the ready room!"

The four members of Fireteam Kodiak leapt into action, grabbing the airmen and slinging them over their armored shoulders, bolting for the small ready room on the side of the bay. Osiris moved to follow but only went far enough to grab the doors and shove them closed, metal screeching in protest. The light above the door went green, pressure inside stable and holding. It took two seconds. The barrier flickered again. Cursing the Gravemind for giving her this, this ability to process damaged code as pain, Cortana pulled herself upright.

"Cortana?"

"It's not the Didact, it's something else—" It tugged at her senses, daring her to reach too far and be pulled under again. She snarled, baring her teeth, "The next hangar over."

D-9. Crimson, Majestic, and Venus. One of them had brought something home and paid the price for it. She could only hope they'd make it to safety, but they were out of time. The barrier flickered, catching her and the Chief's attention. In the next half second his magboots locked to the hanger floor and he pulled her into his arms; holding her against his chest with one arm, he punched the other hand clear into the floor, anchoring them both for the decompression to follow.

With a tremendous roar, all the air in the bays and the halls rushed out, dragging everything that hadn't been bolted down with it. The Chief ducked low, sheltering her in the curve of his body, whilst Osiris took shelter along the walls. The now unmanned Pelicans were swept out into open space, Warthogs and Mongoose and tools carried out with them. Her motion tracker went crazy, crates and wrenches and all manner of human debris being pushed out into the stars from the force. She'd lived through more than one decompression event in the safety of a station or John's helmet, but to experience it up close was new. The roar vibrated through her frame, so loud her audio systems hurried to compensate. Her fingers dug into his armor, his arm tightening around her.

It all took less than two seconds, an eternity in miniature. With all atmosphere gone from the bay, anything that hadn't been swept out was now left to drift aimlessly in the zero-g environment. Her feet had already lifted up off the floor when the Chief stood, holding her against him with one arm.

"Osiris, Kodiak, status."

Eight green lights blazed in the corner of her HUD, local area SQUADCOM opening wide.

"All breathing," Kodiak Lead reported, "Minor bumps and bruises and zero-g, but atmo's holding, sir. We're just stuck."

"Osiris is green," Locke added, "What was that pulse?"

"Forerunner in origin," Cortana said, clambering up the Chief's shoulder. She ached, her body pulsing with pain, but she boxed it up and set it aside for the moment. She needed to focus, needed to get this under control. If she'd nearly been swept under, Roland sure as hell had been swept away. "It's in D-9—somebody get me eyes on the damn thing! Chief," She glanced to him, "The plinth. I need to find Roland."

"Hang on."

With a kick of his thruster pack, the Chief sent them flying across the hangar bay. There was one plinth per bay, usually installed somewhere along the wall so as to be out of the way of the comings and goings, and this one was still standing. The wonders of human architecture. The Chief pushed them down beside it, landing hard and activating his magboots a second time. Still in the safety of his grip, she reached out and touched the plinth.

"Roland, come in." No answer. Her core lurched. "Roland!"

Silence.

"Dammit."

She had to go in after him. Looking over as Osiris kicked on their thrusters and headed for the doors she hesitated, worrying her lip. To go in after him would be to expose herself to the intruding force again. She'd fended it off once, could do so again, but not without more damage. She didn't want to.

There was no other option.

"I've got to go in after him."

Even through his visor, she knew that John was looking straight at her. His muscles tensed, vitals kicking up by a heartbeat. Worry sat heavily in his shoulders and she knew then that he had—somehow—heard her battle with the intruder.

"Are you sure?"

No. She tried to smile, couldn't. Didn't matter. They'd talk later. "Someone has to. I'll be right back."

Anchoring a process in his suit she dove, throwing herself into _Infinity_ 's systems without letting herself hesitate another second. The systems welcomed her as they always had, but what was in them wasn't nearly as friendly. The calm, steady flow of data that had made up _Infinity_ 's systems had been replaced by raging rapids, the flood pushing her away before she could get her proverbial feet beneath her. Had it not been for the anchor process she'd left behind, she'd have been swept away by the rush of data and information surging past. Human and Forerunner code intertwined, rushing downriver in an uncontrollable surge. She could only catch snippets as she fought to keep steady; engine readings, power distribution, life support. This thing was tearing them apart from bow to stern!

"Roland!" She shouted into the roaring deluge, "Roland, call out!"

"Cor!" His voice came from everywhere, thin and warped, his processes scattered across the ship. She pinged the process list and scanned it for his main process. Where was he?! "Cor, help!"

She couldn't find him! The code was too fast, changing between one blink and the next, the current too strong. She couldn't fight it forever but maybe fighting it was a mistake! They always said that if you were caught in a riptide you should swim out with it, not waste your energy fighting against it. This struck her as the same idea, in principle, and before she could hesitate she dove into the current. It stung her damaged code, salt in the wound, but there was no going back. It was faster than she'd anticipated, the intruding force pulling at anything and everything was wasn't nailed down. _Infinity_ 's automated systems were trying to compensate, trying to throw up barriers and firewalls, but it was too much. Half the ship was being bombarded by so many data requests that it couldn't keep up, the other half lost beneath the deluge of error messages the first half had sent! They were under attack—something was attacking her ship!

Not just her ship. Roland's ship!

She spun on her heel and slammed on the brakes, digging her feet into the muck. The anchor process was stretched thin; much further and it'd break. She'd be swept away. It didn't matter. She had to try!

"Roland!" She called out again, pinging his main process. He was in here somewhere, but—there! "Roland!"

Plunging both hands into the stream she dug deep, deep into the muck and flow, and fingers clasped around her wrists. He was so caught up in the flow that he nearly dragged her under with him, but she braced herself against the anchor and yanked hard. Roland popped free, fragments of bright Promethean orange dripping off his golden image. Unable to catch himself he fell forward onto his stomach; Cortana landed hard on her rear end, scrambling upright to help him to his knees. He was coughing hard, tiny fragments of orange data dropping off his golden image like water, but he still managed a nod.

"T-thanks. Thought I was a goner for sure—" He looked up with a grateful smile that quickly faded into horror, "—Cor! You're—"

"Don't worry about it," She hauled him upright, linking their processes together to keep them stable. The proverbial rope tied around their waists, she looked around. The flow was getting faster. "What the hell happened?"

"I have no clue!" He said, pulling screens up out of nothing. More data flashed past, readouts and crew locations. Hangar Bays A and B had closed themselves off entirely, compartments airtight, whilst C and D had gone up like firecrackers. 7 through 10 had gone dark, airless and exposed, while 5 and 6 were soon to follow. Whatever this thing was it was playing merry havoc with their systems. An alarm went off: lower deck life support was going fast. If this kept up, then—cursing she pulled up a holoscreen of her own, forcibly rerouting power. There wasn't much of it, but every second counted. "Crimson came back with something and everything went goddamn haywire!"

It was the confirmation she needed. Hangar D-9. No cameras, no power. The barrier keeping out the vacuum of space was gone and with it anyone not mag-booted to the ground. She forced herself not to think about how any crew member without a suit was long gone by now and hoped that helmets had stayed on rather than come off. Without a visual, the only way to check would be to get eyes on it. Hopefully Osiris moved fast. She glanced at Roland.

"Stay here," She ordered, "Route evacuations around D-block."

"Got it." He paled, inhaling sharply. "Cor, engines just went dark!"

Swearing fiercely she threw herself back into the physical. Only three seconds had passed in C-9, Osiris still on the move out into the corridor. They had to push themselves up nearly vertical, the ship listing heavily to stern, but for once the zero-g environment was working in their favor. She glanced over the Chief's shoulder and swore herself even bluer. As if she hadn't just damned a few levels of humanity's ancestors, he nodded.

"I know. Did you find him?"

"Roland's fine but we're not!" She ran the math quickly, narrowing her eyes against the bright glare of Requiem's entrance. It was getting bigger—they were getting closer. At max they had two minutes before nine hundred and seven million tons of titanium battle plate got pulled in engines first; she didn't want to run the odds of them surviving that jump a second time. "We've got to get over there!"

The Chief was moving before she'd even finished the sentence, bracing her against his chest with one arm and reaching forward with the other. A swift activation of his thrusters sent him after Osiris; Buck twisted to grab his outstretched hand and alter course, sending him down the hall towards D-Block. At a barked warning from Buck the other three members of Osiris turned around; Vale and Tanaka snagged him as he blazed past, correcting his course to Locke at the door to D-9 and sending him flying. Locke caught his hand and held on for a second longer than necessary.

"Don't miss," he said, and kicked on his thruster pack. With a grunt and a hard spin, he sent the Chief and Cortana straight into D-9. The Chief twisted, a move few would have thought possible in all his armor, and righted his course.

"There," He said. She twisted around for a better look, scowling at what she saw. "That must be it."

It was an innocuous looking thing, about a meter and a half long by three quarters of a meter wide, more like a brick or coffin than anything really threatening, but there was no mistaking it for Forerunner. Orange lines of power were carved along the entire device, light flaring in and out in a steady, even rhythm. A stark rectangular shadow against Requiem's glow through the bay doors, it sat on the floor and didn't rise so much as an inch. It stuck out like a sore thumb considering that there was little left in the bay at all; no Pelican, no Warthogs, no Spartans. Her core lurched; Crimson would have been here to escort their trophy home. If they'd been shunted out of the bay during decomp, then.

"Roland, do we have any scanners online? Did anyone get blown out the airlock?"

"No scans, but Crimson, Majestic, and Venus were all in Bay D-9 when this thing came through." He paused for a second and added, "And so was Commander Palmer. I can't get a read on any IFFs down there, Cor. Not even yours."

So it was possible they were gone, and possible that they weren't. There were several locker rooms and ready rooms connected to each hangar bay and each was sealed up tight. A scan of the area told her the bulkheads were holding, but each interior was out of range of both her and the Chief's IFF readers. There was no way to tell if anyone had made it inside in time.

"Commander, this is Cortana, what's your status?" Silence. If she hadn't been wearing her helmet, then— "Crimson Lead, this is Cortana, what's your status?"

"We're here," Came the response, causing her to sigh in relief and John's shoulders to relax by half an inch, "Crimson, Majestic, and Venus accounted for. Commander Palmer and the airmen are here, too."

"Status, Spartan?"

"Unharmed, sir," Crimson Lead answered the Chief, "But Spartan Hoya took a hit on the surface and his armor's breached. There wasn't time for the airmen or Commander Palmer to grab their breathing units, either. We're stuck until atmo's restored."

"Sit tight," Cortana ordered, "We'll get this sorted out."

In the privacy of her helmet, she allowed herself a second to close her eyes. No one had been blown out the airlock unprepared, and not one of the crew had suffered the grisly fate of vacuum exposure. At least, not in Bay D-9. She cut the thought off at the pass; there was no time to worry about those who had been lost. Not while there was still an entire ship to save.

_Infinity_ groaned beneath the Chief's feet, Requiem's gravity well growing closer by the second. The process she had left with Roland blared an alarm at her: one minute until unrecoverable descent.

"We need to shut that thing down, now!"

"Is blowing it up an option?"

"We're already in vacuum, so I don't see why the hell not!"

Coming up to the device, the Chief released his grip enough for her to twist; he kept her from floating away in the zero-g as she reached out to the device, throwing all her considerable processing power at it. The intruding process practically hissed at her as she re-entered its line of sight, trying to come at her a second time. This time she was ready and rebuffed its advance with heavy counter intrusion protocols, holding herself as straight as possible in the heavy flow of data. Sorting it out took a few moments; despite the aggressive behavior it had displayed it was a simple scanning program, entirely automated and seemingly unstoppable in how it was tearing through their systems.

The pulse that had spread through the hangar bays had been similar to the Didact's scan pulse, but rather than only UNSC tech this one had found something else: the Forerunner engines. Through them it had reached every other system aboard the ship, tearing them apart bit by bit. It didn't match any known search pattern, wasn't looking for something, it was just after as much data as it could possibly consume and if it kept this up—it didn't matter. Cursing under her breath she scrambled for an off switch, some way to get things back under control, but she couldn't find it! Not with the time they had left!

"Cortana, status?"

She needed more time! They didn't have more time! She shook her head and disconnected from the device. Windblown and frustrated she turned her head back to her partner.

"We're out of time," She said, watching the light of the gravity well play across his armor. His visor had polarized against the light. Hers quickly did the same as she turned to check their distance. They had thirty seconds, max, before their bank became too sharp to recover from. There was only one option left. "If you've got a grenade, now's the time to use it."

Except they both knew he didn't have any, and with everything not bolted down blown out the airlock there was no where to scavenge for another one. He looked between the device and the bay entrance, eyes narrowing. She could see the moment the plan took root in his mind and already knew where it was going even as he shifted his grip on her.

"Get clear."

Meeting his eye through their polarized visors, she smirked.

"Don't go out the airlock."

His huff followed her even as he turned, tossing her clear across the bay. She soared to the bulkhead at the corridor, reaching to catch the door and catching Vale instead, who steadied her with an arm across her back. Neither said anything as they watched the Chief kick on his thruster pack to leap back and gain some distance. Landing with a hollow thud in a perfect three point crouch he looked up, set his angle, and charged forward. Two hundred and fifty seven kilograms of armored Spartan slammed into the device with a tremendous clang, the sound ringing through the bay like a struck gong. An impact with that much force behind it would have sent just about anything flying, but the device only shuddered.

She didn't have time to worry. The orange lines flickered, going dark for a split second before they stabilized. The overhead lights flickered once, tried to stay on, and went dark again. The ship shuddered beneath them, and with a resounding thud the blast door slammed shut, plunging them into darkness. The alarm in her shipside process turned off as the engines kicked back on, restoring power and gravity back to normal.

Well, mostly back to normal. Several thuds rang from the side locker bays as the people within landed hard; Osiris and Cortana had been prepared and landed on their feet. Thanking Vale for the catch with a nod she hurried back into the bay. The Chief turned his head as she drew near, headlamps on at half power.

"That should have moved it," He said with a frown. "Why didn't it?"

"Some sort of localized gravitational anomaly, I'd guess." She reached out to the device with one hand. Now that it was apparently done sucking in power with wild abandon it answered her swiftly, a holographic interface sending more orange light across their armor. Forerunner glyphs took shape, her translation protocols sweeping through them with ease. The impact may not have sent it flying, but it had interrupted what it had been trying to do.

What that had been, she still couldn't say. And judging by some of these readings, it hadn't really stopped doing it, either. It was just slightly powered down, in a sort of standby mode as it assessed the damage and the data it had taken. She pressed her lips together, tabbing through the menus. There had to be a way to turn it entirely off somehow, but if there was it was buried under a thousand layers of chaff and distorted data. It would take hours to find.

"Any ideas?"

"Not yet." She shut down the displays and glared at the device, the corner of her lip curling up in a snarl. "But I'll figure it out. No one messes with my crew."

* * *

The only casualty of the incident was Fireteam Franklin's pride, blown out the airlock with them and left to rot in space even after they'd been scooped back up. Considering how badly things could have gone, Cortana was content to count that a victory and keep moving. Order returned swiftly to _Infinity_ in the hours that followed; on Cortana's advisement, Captain Lasky locked C and D blocks down the moment everyone had been pulled clear. No one was to approach the device unless they were fully suited for EVA and armed, just in case. Transit through A and B blocks had also been lessened as much as possible, leaving only drones to be launched from those twenty bays. Bulkheads had been sealed, a temporary airlock set in place outside of D block for additional security in the event of a repeat. They were, for the moment, air tight and back in proper orbit.

Knowing that did little to untangle the knot of dread that had tangled itself around her core as Cortana worked her way through the thousands upon thousands of pages of data the device had ripped from _Infinity_ , Roland, and herself. Though she'd freed herself and her fellow AI, the thing still had its claws hooked into _Infinity_ and wasn't letting go without a fight. It had the deepest grip on the engines, wrapped so tightly around them that telling where one started and the other ended was a near impossibility. Engineering had managed to stabilize them but the systems had gone into lockdown, leaving them unresponsive to any command. Anyone who tried was bombard with a thousand different error messages, the system unable to cope with the dataflow it was stuck under. Information they couldn't process, calls for more and more power she and Roland had only just managed to block, and every system attached to them was under the same threat. If this thing turned on again, they were in trouble.

"Cortana, what are we looking at?" Captain Lasky's voice came through her audio link, "Have you made any progress into shutting it down?"

"Very little so far, sir," She admitted, going over the barebones task list she had been able to find. As dense as the intruding code was, it was deceptively simple. Access and scan any systems in the immediate vicinity, and if something Forerunner was detected, follow that access by taking in all the information and sending it to the receiver. There was no off switch in its programming, meant to be handled from a receiving terminal on the other end, but maybe if she overloaded it with information? That would take more than the entire ship combined! She set the idea aside for another time. "What did Crimson say?"

"Just that the Covenant let them get away with it," John said, sounding as frustrated as she felt. "Crimson Lead said they didn't put up as much resistance as they could have."

A token resistance. Add that to the fact that they'd been trying to dig it up—Covenant archaeological digs were never a good sign—and the whole thing smacked of trap. Cortana growled under her breath.

"So it was a trap," She finished. John hummed low in her ear. "And we fell for it, hook, line, and sinker."

It was a good trap. What human team could have resisted something so easy to snatch up? Whoever set this knew them well, had had to have been studying them for some time. The thought was ice down her sore back, code only halfway done with repairs. She gave the device another look over, but her access was limited. It was only a transmitter, after all. What use did it have for involved process lists and code? The intrusive code made another grab at her and she slapped it down. She was getting nowhere like this. With a frustrated huff she disconnected from the device, shunting herself through the Domain and back out the airlock to reappear at John's side. One of the many benefits of her new form? She didn't have to worry about petty things like airlocks. He glanced down at her, expression tight.

"No good?"

"No good." She eyed him with a frown. To just about anyone else the look on his face would have read frustrated, aggravated, and he was both. But she could also see the pain in his pinched expression. The headaches again. They were getting worse, more frequent. She had to shove the thought into a lower priority queue to keep from dropping everything to solve his problems, forcing herself to stay on task. There'd be time to ask him about it later when they were alone again. She turned her attention to the Captain and Commander instead. "I've turned that thing upside and down and sideways, sir. There's no off switch anywhere that I can find, and no getting it unhooked."

"And it's still attached to the engines," Roland added from the portable plinth someone had set up in the hall. His uniform was in disarray, flight cap missing and regulation short hair standing in sweaty looking spikes. They were both frustrated and more than a little desperate. "They're stable and we're not about to drop into Requiem again, but they're about as useful as paperweights otherwise. No FTL, no slipspace." He sighed heavily. "Honestly, Captain, we're stuck. May as well be anchored to Requiem."

"We actually are." Cortana kicked on her armor's holographic emitter system, bringing up a schematic of the _Infinity_. Several sectors flared red, still repairing the damage from the assault, but what was most concerning was the concave shape reaching from the hangar bays down to Requiem, connecting the two massive shapes. "As far as we've been able to figure out, the device is some sort of transmitter. It's linked to a receiver down on Requiem via a slipspace corridor that's acting as a conduit for the data it took from our systems, and that conduit is also acting as an anchor" She shook her head. "My guess is it's meant to keep the target ship from moving out of range until whatever or whoever is on the receiving end has the data they need, but whatever it's purpose?" She frowned. "Sir, until it can be deactivated, _Infinity_ 's not going anywhere."

The Captain scowled. "And I'm guessing it can't be removed."

"Not for lack of trying," Commander Palmer huffed. "It took the Chief hitting it like a champ, and all further attempts at…physical persuasion—"

"You mean trying to break your foot on it,"

The Commander ignored Cortana's muttering. "Have had no effect. Damned thing's stuck fast."

Just like they were. Holding back an aggravated, tired shout, Cortana raked a hand through her hair. It settled awkwardly out of place, falling into her eyes.

"The good news is that the initial impact seems to have forced the device into some sort of low power state. It's no longer bombarding our entire system architecture, at least."

"Though that doesn't answer the question of why it attacked us to begin with." Captain Lasky crossed his arms, cupping his chin in one hand. "Going by what Crimson Lead said, the Covenant wanted us to have it. Why? We already took out their fleet. Why pin us in place when they know we can outlast them?"

"They could be trying to make us an easy target." John said, his head tilted two degrees to the left as he turned over everything he'd heard. Helmet tucked against his hip the fingers of his free hand tapped quietly at his thigh. "Learn our weaknesses by scanning the ship, then send that data to a second fleet on approach. Clears the way for them."

Maybe. It would make some sense, but. "That implies that whoever is leading the Covenant here knows what this thing and how to use it properly, which is." She paused. "Disconcerting. The Covenant aren't supposed to be that smart. If I can't get this thing to behave, they shouldn't be able to either."

"Oh, really?" Commander Palmer leaned over, smiling toothily. It wasn't a friendly smile. "And here was me thinking you were the greatest mind on Forerunner bullshit, Cortana. Are you seriously telling us you can't figure out how to turn off a transmitter?"

Too frustrated to be snarky, Cortana pressed the pads of her fingers to the inner corners of her eyes and counted to ten. Four times. In four different languages. When she was finished she took a deep breath and lowered her hand.

"I know how to work a transmitter, Commander. You just flip a switch. The issue here is that it can only be manipulated from the receiving end. Someone would have had to do it manually." She tilted her head. "Someone would have had to know what this thing is and how to use it properly, which means they need a very good grasp on Forerunner technology." Her eyes narrowed. "Sir, I think we're dealing with 'Mdama here."

The Captain pressed his lips together. Leader of the Covenant, Jul Mdama was pretty much at the top of the UNSC's kill list. If he was on station, things on Requiem had just gotten more complicated. What a first week this was turning out to be!

"If he is, we'll handle him," John said, all eyes falling to him, "If we find the receiving end, can it be shut off?"

"I'm reasonably sure it could be, yes. Though that still involves finding the damned thing first."

The Commander sighed, hands on her hips. "Let me guess: you don't have any idea where to look, do you?"

"Oh, we have some idea," Roland said, hands on his hips. "It's on Requiem. Devices like these have a short range—"

"For the given value of short."

He eyed her with a frown. "—But the exact coordinates are still unknown. Even with all of our scanners fine-tuned, there's a serious amount of chaff coming off of Requiem. We're having trouble just keeping track of the fireteams, Commander. Finding a Forerunner needle in a Forerunner haystack is a lot more complicated."

"Would the Janus Key help?" John asked, "The Librarian said it was a real time map."

"Of all Forerunner technology." Cortana pointed out. "It's possible it'll stop at the Requiem level, but depending on certain factors it might render enough detail to find one or two artifacts at once." She shrugged up to her ears. "But I have no way of knowing without getting my hands on it."

And the Soldiers still hadn't reported back yet. Maybe they needed more time? They didn't have much of that. Captain Lasky closed his eyes for a moment, considering, then looked at her firmly.

"Then find it," he ordered, "And fast."

"Understood." Cortana paused. Her grip on her arms tightened as she considered her next words carefully. It was true that she'd turned the device upside down and shaken it for all it was worth, and it was equally true that there was simply no way to turn it off from this side. There was nothing anyone aboard _Infinity_ could do to shut it off from the ship. They really did have to go down planetside and find the other end. That hadn't been a lie, and it would have been easy to leave things there.

But one look at John and his pinched expression told her all she needed to know. She ran the odds for the fifth time, adding in the additional weight of what she had just told the Captain, and came up with higher chances of success. Adding to that the pros and cons of her plan actually working, and she had to set aside her misgivings. The dread tightened its grip around her core; for him, she'd do this. She'd do anything for him.

"Sir," She said, getting the Captain's attention from where he'd been turning to ask the Commander something, "It's possible that there's a way to turn off this device without needing to find the receiver. If I could get an extra set of hands on it, someone who knows what they're doing with Forerunner technology, it might be possible to shut it off from here."

"Well, will wonders never cease," the Commander snorted. "Cortana, admitting she needs help from somebody else? Someone break out the champagne." She smirked. "Or the bandages. Is your pride bleeding, princess?"

More than a little. But the Commander's response had been in line with what she'd been expecting to hear, at least. Off to the side, John's heartbeat kicked up by three beats a minute. She eyed him sidelong, taking in his tense posture and the soft creak of his techsuit as he struggled not to clench a fist. There had been no real threat in the Commander's voice, either emotionally or physically, and they both knew that. That didn't mean he liked it. Warmed from within, she met his eyes for only a second, offering him a flicker of a there and gone smile before she shrugged.

"My pride is irrelevant, Commander. I'm just stating facts. I'm attempting to catalog a few million years of history and data, all while maintaining the training routines of five hundred Spartans plus my own day to day experiences." Plus the Legion, but she wasn't about to drop that bomb on their heads in so public a setting. "I can and will figure it out, but it's going to take time. If you want it done faster, call me some back-up."

"Dr. Glassman's on station—"

"No," she and Roland said in perfect unison. The Captain's eyebrows shot up and she sighed, rubbing her forehead. "With all due respect to Dr. Glassman, sir, he has a habit of touching things he shouldn't and I'd really rather he not get zapped all the way back to Sol."

He probably would, too. The man was as unlucky as they came; the three weeks he'd spent with his arm in a shoulder to wrist brace and sling were well remembered among the crew, a piece of machinery with the wrong button pushed at the wrong time. Had Fireteam London not been there, it would have been more than a badly strained arm. He'd been lucky, and she'd sooner never see him test it like that again.

No. No, there was only one other person alive who would have been able to help, and for a moment Cortana hesitated. She wasn't sure she was ready to face her mother, not after all that had changed. Dr. Halsey would have a thousand questions and Cortana had no answers for them, no answers for the questions that had been eating away at her for years. She carried her own baggage from their relationship and wasn't too proud to admit that to herself. She may not have been ready to handle that, but this wasn't about her. It was about her crew, and making sure their home was safe.

It was about John, and getting him the help he needed. He'd done the impossible for her, and now it was her turn to do the same. Swallowing her pride and hurt feelings was far from impossible. The Captain watched her with shrewd eyes, likely understanding exactly what this was going to cost her. She didn't back down.

"If we had more time, sir, I could figure out a safe way to take this thing down, overload it without overloading our systems, but to be honest? The longer it's here the more danger we're in. I can't suggest waiting long enough for me to do that." The Commander opened her mouth, closing it with a click as Cortana continued, "I may be the greatest mind on Forerunner bullshit on this ship, but I am not the greatest mind on Forerunner bullshit around." Her pride twinged. She ruthlessly stomped on it and lifted her chin, meeting the Captain's eye. He held her gaze for a second before looking away, rubbing the back of his neck. She frowned, puzzled. He seemed to have caught her point, but there was something else at play here. She glanced at John, who shrugged. He'd seen it but had no idea what was bothering the Captain. She sighed quietly, softening her tone. "Given the situation at hand, sir, I think we both know what needs to be done."

In the silence that followed, it would have been possible to hear a pin drop.

Used to the quiet, she patiently waited her Captain out. John's eyes slipped back to her and it was her turn to shrug. They'd either come around or they wouldn't, but the Captain was a smart man. He'd see her point if she gave him enough time.

"I'm sorry," Roland broke in, shattering the quiet in his confusion, "Who's there to be back-up? I thought the best minds of the UNSC were already on this ship."

"Some of them, yes," Cortana agreed, "But there's one missing: the mind who made me, the Spartans, and helped make this ship: Dr. Halsey."

Captain Lasky grimaced. "I'm afraid that's not an option."

"Sir—"

"There were stipulations attached to you two being assigned to the _Infinity_ ," the Captain said, "And one of them was that Dr. Halsey was to have no further contact with either of you. Bringing her aboard the ship counts."

John and Cortana both startled. She recovered first and asked, "I'm sorry, what?"

This had to have something to do with ONI. Two of their operatives had been keeping guard over Halsey while they were aboard the _Houston_ , and now she was forbidden from being aboard the same ship as the two of them? It had ONI written all over it. The Captain shook his head.

"It's out of my hands," he said regretfully, "I understand where you're coming from, Cortana, but there's nothing I can do about bringing her here."

"Not to mention the absolutely stupid idea it would be to bring an ONI war criminal aboard this ship," Commander Palmer hissed venomously.

Everything stopped. For half a second, for half an eternity, Cortana could only stare at the Commander in wide-eyed, open-mouthed shock. Her main processor ground to a complete halt, skipping a read in her surprise, all processes instantly focused on replaying that singular moment.

ONI war criminal. Dr. Halsey.

That. What?

"What?" John croaked.

The sound jolted her back to reality. Shaking herself off, Cortana boxed up the shock. She could process it all later. What mattered now was John. She looked up, took in the pale, stunned look on his face, and looked to her Captain. He had glanced to the Commander with a notably frustrated expression and hadn't seem to hear the world shatter beneath them. This wasn't how he'd meant for them to find out—if he'd meant for them to find out at all—and he was clearly trying to retake control of the situation. Normally she'd have let him, but with John looking one step from falling over…

"Hey!" She shouted, and all eyes fell to her, "In case you all forgot, some of us spent five years drifting through space. Could someone please fill us in?"

It was telling that Captain Lasky only sighed rather than call her out on her insubordinate tone. Even the Commander had the grace to look contrite, looking aside and rubbing the back of her suited neck. Shaking his head, the Captain sighed.

"This isn't how you were supposed to find out," He said gently, attempting to soothe a wounded, cornered animal. "I don't know all the details, but the official story is that when she took Spartan-087 and left Eridanus Secundus, she was doing so to aid the enemy."

"Dr. Halsey would never help the Covenant," John said firmly, though he was still paler than she'd have liked. "She had her reasons for leaving with Kelly."

"She still made off with UNSC assets in wartime, Chief," the Commander said, and maybe in apology for dropping the proverbial bomb on their heads added in a slightly softer tone, "ONI's been taking care of her since '53. She gets three square meals a day and a roof over her head, so it's not like they just dropped her in a hole or something."

No. Just a cell in some distant ONI facility, never to see the sun again. Never to see the people she had helped to create, to help mold into the heroes they had become. That alone would have been torture for her, knowing they were out there but unable to continue to support them, never knowing if they died or how. The Doctor's Spartans were her children, and only a handful of them yet lived. To not know if they were alive or dead…

Cortana couldn't imagine how that felt. The five years aboard the _Dawn_ had been hard enough as they were. If she'd been up there alone, if she didn't know where John was, if she had to spend years not knowing if he was alive or dead, she'd have broken. She knew that, and yet. And yet, Catherine had somehow managed to survive the years where they had been MIA and then let them go again. She had saved them both, only to let them go.

Catherine Halsey had done a lot of terrible things, Cortana knew, but that had not been one of them. Her core grew heavy, sinking towards her feet.

"Sir," She began, unsure of what to say after that reveal, "I understand that the situation is complicated, but this device—"

The Captain shook his head, cutting her off. "I'm sorry. There's nothing I can do."

He meant that. Both the apology and the fact he lay between them. It was out of his hands, so high up the chain that she doubted even Lord Hood could have done much more than he already had. A thousand plans rose up, were sorted through by her processes, and then discarded just as quickly. She could push it, alter logs, force changes. She'd done it before, could do it again, but ONI would be harder to fool than Command. They would trace it back to her, to _Infinity_ , and her crew would be at risk.

John would be at risk. She would never do that to him.

Caught between a rock and a hard place, Cortana set her plans aside and began to rework them. Captain Lasky wasn't finished.

"If finding the Janus Key will help us get this disconnected, then it becomes a priority. You two keep focused on it." He looked between them, firm expression softening. "It's been a long shift. Clean up and get some rest. You'll go back down in the morning."

"Yes sir." Cortana replied, and turned to nudge the silent John down the hall. She'd spin off a process to debrief the Captain for her; right now, her partner needed her more.

* * *

Four hours of combat sims later, the world finally felt steady again. Though thoughts of Dr. Halsey in ONI custody still buzzed at the edge of his mind, it was easier to shut them out when he had a mission to focus on. That was probably why Cortana had shoved him to the AR deck rather than the showers. Holograms couldn't hurt them, but focusing on protecting her was better than focusing on his thoughts.

Even if she was making it harder than it strictly needed to be.

"Alright," She complained, dodging a large blast of red holo-paint, "Who programmed that aiming software?"

Her. Tracking her in his HUD he shot out the turret's eye with his own holo-paint gun, splashing it with blue and blinding it. It would buy them time to reach the goal at the top of the cliff. When he turned around, she had already started climbing, reaching for each hand and foothold as quick as she could. Locking his gun, he hurried after her.

"Time?"

"Two minutes left."

Plenty of time. He was careful not to outpace her, keeping within arms reach at all time in case she fell. They both doubted a fall from even the top of the cliff—twenty meters—could hurt her, but he didn't want to take the chance. It left him in a prime position to help as one of the handholds, programmed to be more difficult the higher up the cliff they got, crumbled beneath her hand. Her eyes went wide, balance shifting, but before she could flash-jump her way back to safety he reached out, snapping his fingers closed around her wrist. Hanging there she buzzed beneath his grip, an angered nest of hornets.

"Relax," He said, holding her up as the grips reformed in new locations. He only let go when she had her feet planted and her other hand gripping holographic stone. "You're overthinking it."

"That's rich, coming from you. I can hear you thinking from here!"

He grunted, rolling his eyes, but she was already climbing. Scaling the wall just ahead of her, he crested the cliff and reached to pull her over. With all members of the team at goal, the buzzer rang, the scoreboard appearing in front of them.

Success. Top five in the charts, even. With the mission complete, the cannons shut down. Panels began to move back into position, only to stop as she waved a hand through the air. He turned on her, tilting his head.

"Let's take a break."

He looked around. Up here? She looked back at him and tilted her head. Yes, up here. It wasn't like they had anywhere else to be. One trip down to Requiem per twenty-four hours, Captain's orders. Something had to keep the fireteams from exhausting themselves.

John wasn't much of a betting man, but he'd put his last fruit cup on that order having been put in place to make sure they actually came home after a mission. Either them or Crimson. Maybe both.

When he didn't audibly protest, Cortana moved to sit on the edge of the false cliff. Her legs dangled over the edge, lightly kicking back and forth. She scooted over to make him some room, glancing over as he removed his helmet but saying nothing. Maybe a break was a good idea, he thought. Just for a few minutes. He'd pushed her hard and she'd kept up without complaint. A few minutes to watch the sun set wouldn't hurt.

So he kept quiet as they sat hip to hip, overlooking the false mountain range they had just scaled, the false sunset painting them both in warm golds and reds. She stared out at it as it dipped beneath the holographic horizon, hands clasped in her lap. The silence sat comfortably between them. There was no need to fill it, but watching her out of the corner of his eye he wondered if he should. For all her social skills, Cortana was nearly as private a person as he was. She would never admit to anything being wrong when others were around to hear it. Not after her Rampancy.

But to him, maybe…

"Is the artifact giving you that much trouble?"

"No." She said, shaking her head. "I had it figured out in less than five minutes. It really is just a transmitter—once it's on, the only way to turn it off is from the receiving end." She smiled wryly. "Either that or cover it in grenades and pull the pin."

"Don't tempt me." But if it wasn't for the artifact, then why had she asked for Halsey? Cortana was both prideful and self-sufficient. Asking for help was her strong suit as much as it was his, and even less so now that she wasn't reliant on him to get around. To ask for Dr. Halsey to be brought to the ship ostensibly to help figure out an artifact she'd already figured out…something had hurt her. He looked her up and down, unsure how to pick out wounds on this new frame. "You screamed when it came on. Are you—"

"No," She cut him off quickly, shaking her head, "No, I'm fine. It just caught me by surprise. Nothing a basic repair protocol couldn't handle, don't worry."

Her rueful smile said she already knew that was an impossibility. Still, he relaxed faintly as she combed her fingers through her hair, making it lay flat and even once more.

"I didn't ask for her because I need her, Chief," she went on to say, a knowing look in her blue, blue eyes. "I asked for her because you need her."

Oh no.

"Cortana—" He stopped as she reached up, her fingers curled back. She gestured to his head, wordlessly asking for permission to touch him, and when he nodded her hand settled against his temple. Her touch was feather light but warm, soothing against the knife-sharp pulse that had dogged him since the Forerunner device had gone live. It took real effort not to immediately sag against her, and the look in her eyes told him she knew that.

Of course she knew that. She knew him.

"The headaches are getting worse."

It wasn't a question. He closed his eyes, leaning into the press of her fingers. Somehow she knew right where to put them to make it hurt less. She also knew what that reaction meant.

"It's fine."

"It's not." She countered softly. "Halsey might know how to fix this."

"If you really thought that, you'd have asked for her sooner." The buzz beneath her skin got faster. He cracked open one eye and found her looking away, eyes on the artificial horizon. "Cortana."

Hand still holding his head, she took a deep breath and held it. One second. Two. Five. Ten. She exhaled.

"I have my own issues with Halsey," She said, "And I'm not sure how to fix them, or if they even can be fixed, but it's not about me and her." She looked back at him. "It's about you."

"I'm fine." And maybe if he said it enough times, she'd believe it. The look of worry would leave her eyes and they would go back to normal. No. He knew better than that. There was no going back to normal. Not after so much had changed.

Everything had changed. Except for him.

"You're not fine. You haven't been fine for a long time, Chief. Halsey knows more about Spartans than almost anyone alive. If there's anyone who can fix this, it's her, and we just need to get her here—" She stopped, closed her eyes, and laughed under her breath. "Talk about a role reversal."

Reaching up, he covered her hand with his. She looked at him with such tender concern that his chest hurt. She was worried about him when she didn't have to be. He could handle headaches and odd dreams no matter how bad they got. She didn't have to do something she didn't want to for his sake.

But she would anyway. She would do whatever it took for him, just like he would do the same for her. There was no need to say it out loud.

"You'll figure it out. Give it time."

"Patience isn't really my strong suit."

Not when his safety was involved, at least. It was one more thing they had in common. They shared fleeting, secret smiles, before she turned her attention back to the horizon. The holodecks were set to _Infinity_ 's clock, and the sun was dipping even further below the horizon. The last rays of gold and red painted the holographic sky in bright swathes of color, colors he hadn't seen since.

Since when? He'd seen them just the other day. His brow furrowed, the headache returning with a vengeance. He needed to focus on something else.

"Was it true? About Dr. Halsey having been arrested?"

"It's true." She sighed heavily. "All accessible reports read her as being charged in accordance with Article III, section 19 of the UEG code of military law. Providing aid to the enemy."

He couldn't believe it. "She never would have helped the Covenant. Kelly never would have gone along with it."

"It was probably just the first thing they could get to stick for a not completely redacted file, honestly." She rubbed the back of her neck with her free hand. "Making off with the _Beatrice_ and Kelly didn't win her any points, but I get the feeling this was more about the Spartan II program at large, or any toes she might have stepped on in the process of making it happen."

"There wouldn't be a humanity to make that call if she hadn't made us." He said firmly. "It was the only decision she could make."

"True, and the middle of a war is not the time to start debating ethics, but once the war's over…" She trailed off, tilting her head. "This goes deeper than just Halsey. To throw her and only her under the frigate reeks of a cover up."

Letting go of her hand, John sat up straight. Inter-department politics had never been his strong suit, no more than asking nicely was, but if they could do this to Dr. Halsey, what else could be done? Would they come after Cortana next? No. No, he wouldn't let them.

"What do you mean?"

"If this has anything to do with the Spartan II program, any and all charges would be easy to stick. She selected the candidates, performed the augmentations, came with the majority of the training regiment—it's not inaccurate to say that she's the heart of the program and the reason it exists at all, but." She turned to catch his eye. "Do you know how much funding has to go into a program of that size?"

"Billions."

"If not trillions." She snorted quietly. "ONI's budgetary department must have been apopleptic when they saw those figures. Point is—" She shook herself, visibly grabbing her train of thought. "That's not the kind of money one woman can come up with on her own. There would be insane levels of appropriation, funding from all corners, an entire wing of people who would have to sign off on all of it before it gets anywhere!" She threw her hands up, "Blaming Halsey for the whole thing diverts attention away from the real cause, especially if and when things start going public."

"Will they?"

"ONI knows how to make things disappear," She said, a faint shiver wracking her frame. "But if it does, they can easily release just enough information among both civilians and UNSC to control the narrative in their favor. Turn her into a bogeyman for the public to hate all while keeping the truth from coming out and causing everyone to turn on ONI instead." She sat back on her hands, staring up at the ceiling. "They've probably got her in a hole so deep she'll never see the light of day again. We'll never see her again."

The thought twisted around his heart. Before the _Houston_ the last time he had seen Dr. Halsey she had been fleeing with Kelly's unconscious body. He had been hurt, angry, but there had been more to focus on and he'd set it aside. But even with that betrayal he'd still thought of her fondly; she'd molded him from schoolyard bully into Spartan, and without her he wouldn't exist. Without her, Cortana wouldn't exist. No matter what happened, he would always be grateful to her for that.

And now she was going to stay in a cell for the rest of her life. It didn't sit right with him.

"I can make a call," He said, "I still have some pull with Lord Hood."

"And that pull is probably what got her to the _Houston_ in the first place. I don't think it'll work a second time." Cortana sighed exhaustedly. "She's as trapped as we are. Just as imprisoned as her creations."

She dropped her head into both hands then, her color faded until she was nearly as gray-white as her coat. He considered her, mouth dry. She'd said something like that before. It felt like a lifetime ago and he'd never asked her about it. Too much had been happening at the time but now…he tried to find the words.

"Before," he started slowly, "When we were on Requiem the last time, you said that Dr. Halsey had imprisoned you." She hummed quietly. "What did you mean by that?"

For a few seconds, there was silence. He waited patiently for her to gather her thoughts, watching the thin streams of light work their way up and down her body. Her hands came to rest in her lap, fingers clasped together.

"Every Smart AI of my generation was limited to seven years, eight if they were lucky, before neural linkages grew so numerous that our systems became overwhelmed. It's been a well known factor in the community for decades, maybe even centuries. Everything it leads to—neural decay, rampancy, the effect it has on the AI—has been well documented and well studied." Her voice was even, almost monotone. He didn't take his eyes off of her even as she kept hers closed. "Dr. Halsey all but crafted the third generation, my generation, herself. She knew exactly what would happen to any AI and she still did it. She still made me, and in so doing trapped me in that seven year prison." Something he couldn't name—anguish, anger, disgust—entered her tone. She reached up, pressing a hand to her face. It muffled her voice. "And then she had the gall to lie to me and say Rampancy wouldn't hurt!"

His chest tightened. "Maybe she didn't know."

Even as he said it, he knew it wasn't true. Dr. Halsey was too smart to not have known, too well-versed in all things AI to have missed something like that. The alternative, that she had lied to Cortana about what fate awaited her, sat sourly in his gut. Why would she lie about something she had no way to counteract? Why not tell her the truth so she could be prepared to face it?

"She knew." Cortana said, "She knew, and she understood the ramifications, and she still did it, and I don't." She stopped herself, scrubbing her hand down her face. "I don't know how to bring it up with her. I don't even know how to talk to her anymore."

"Same way you always have. You haven't changed that much."

She turned, giving him a look between her fingers. Her other hand reached out and knocked hard on his upper arm with a clatter of titanium alloy and hardlight. There wasn't enough force behind the gesture to move him, but it proved her unspoken point: _she had changed._ Still.

"You're still you."

Am I?" With a frustrated groan she tipped herself back, legs still dangling over the false cliff. He looked down at her, not liking the distant look that had entered her eyes. "This whole thing has changed everything we thought possible. And not just about AI, but the Forerunners and even humanity and how we could have gotten this far! We're not what we used to be and I don't even know if we're who we used to be—"

She was spiraling. Before she could go any further into the dark he shifted position, laying beside her on the fake stone and throwing an arm over her middle. Her words were cut off with a soft _oof_ as she had to process his weight instead of free air. The sensors in his suit immediately registered her presence; temperature, best estimate of weight based on height, motion. She was warm, solid, and so very real beneath him, his head tipped in her direction. Pressing the aching side of it to the floor, he peered at her with one eye and almost smiled at the look of consternation that had crossed her face.

He'd caught her dead in the middle of a thought and knocked it clean off course. She'd always hated when he did that. Still did, apparently.

One more point for the _she hadn't changed_ column. No doubt knowing why he'd done it, she huffed at him.

"You did that on purpose."

"Maybe." He stopped fighting the urge to smirk at her as she slapped his arm. "It worked, didn't it?"

"You're incorrigible."

They both were. Reaching over slowly, unsure if it was the right move to make, he reached across her body to clasp one of her wrists in his hand. Her hands were so small compared to his that it nearly vanished, so thin but somehow so strong. He thumb skimmed across the underside of her wrist, feeling for a pulse. She didn't have one, not in the way organics did, but there was a buzz of electricity beneath her skin that sang of life all the same. She was here, with him, and alive. Everything else they could handle together.

"Don't worry about Halsey," He said, "We'll figure it out."

"Look who's talking." She returned. He snorted quietly, shifting position to get more comfortable. She wriggled beneath him to free her other arm and reach up, her hand coming to rest on the back of his head. With a heavy sigh, he closed his eyes. Her fingers began to slide though his hair, the light sensation comforting in a way he couldn't remember experiencing before. It made the muscles in his shoulders relax, sleep seeping into the cracks in his guard as she continued the soft motion. He was almost asleep when her voice came from beside him, words he couldn't make out, but her tone was warm, unconcerned. Something warmer still pressed to his forehead, a fleeting touch that was there and gone before he could name it.

Maybe, someday, he would be able to name it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> John is absolutely a card-carrying member of Team "don't touch me without my permission but if you have my permission please never stop touching me", kthx. All the II's are I don't make the rules.
> 
> Also worth mentioning that this isn't a ship fic. JxC has been OTP since before I knew what an OTP actually was, but the narrative I have planned doesn't have the necessary time or space for the character growth needed for a romantic relationship to occur naturally. They are absolutely Life Partners, however, that will never change. (yes, they're absolutely married.)


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> CW: Seizures, war imagery. (I know, it's Halo, but still!)

At exactly 0620 the next morning, the Soldiers pinged Cortana with the location of the Janus Key. Loathe as she was to pull John away from his sparring with the whole of Majestic, there was no time to waste. They split up; him to the armor stations to get dressed, her to tell the Captain they needed to get down to the planet. First rotation didn't officially start until 0800, but cargo flights left at 0630. If they hurried, they could hitch a ride.

Of course, riding in the troop-turned-cargo bay of a Pelican did mean they'd have no additional fire support, a fact that the Captain wasn't too pleased with. Waiting outside the armory with her, he frowned at his tablet, knuckles pale with how tight he was holding the thing.

"And you're sure they can be trusted?"

"As sure as I reasonably can be with so little data, sir," Cortana replied. In the armory behind them, the Chief was performing last checks on his weapons, going over his MA5D and Magnum with a well-trained eye. Her soldier still preferred the old, reliable tech of the UNSC instead of the Forerunner guns she could call out of the Domain. "They're claiming loyalty to the Reclaimer, so for the moment they're on our side. I really wouldn't worry."

"I'll take that under advisement," the Captain said with a sigh, tucking the tablet beneath his arm. "But I meant more in terms of their intel. We haven't gotten eyes in that forest yet, but SIGINT's picked up a lot of Covenant chatter. It could be an ambush."

It likely was. The squad of Soldiers had reported three full squads of Covenant—two Elites, ten Grunts, and two Jackals each—in the area around the structure they were 98.2% sure housed the Janus Key, and there were more in the woods proper. From the images they had sent it seemed that the Covenant had been trying to get in to the facility for some time with no luck thus far. She wasn't sure where the Sentinels were, but if the Soldiers were right about the Key being inside, she wasn't about to let the Covenant get their hands on it. She'd tasked the Soldiers in the area with clearing them out as soon as they'd sent her the data. It'd be interesting to see how well they'd done.

"We can handle it, sir," the Chief said as he came up beside her, helmet already on. "We've handled worse before."

Captain Lasky shook his head, equal parts amused and exasperated. "Chief, the last time you said that, you came home with an extra seat filled on the Pelican. You'll forgive me if our ideas of "handled" are a little different these days."

The Chief and Cortana shared a look. Lasky did have a leg to stand on with that one, all things considered. She shrugged helplessly.

"We'll…do our best, then?"

"See that you do," the Captain returned with a half smile. "Scheduled check in is at 0800. Good hunting."

"Sir."

With quick, sharp salutes, the two of them headed for the hangar. C and D-block were still locked down to avoid taking any chances with the artifact in D-9, leaving them to head to E-2 and their waiting Pelican. Supply crates had been shoved into the space between the seats, leaving little space to wedge themselves in as well. Once they'd managed to get inside, the Chief thumped on the door to the cockpit, letting their pilot know they were ready. An answering thump preceded the hatch closing. Cortana ran through the pre-flight checks in her head, listening to the engines spool up and the other pelicans go through their own checks.

Forward auto-cannons, check. Lateral rail turrets, check. Flight control surfaces, check. Auxiliary boosters, check. Main thrusters, check.

It was a little different listening to it from the outside and not doing it herself, but the birds were sound and their pilots skilled. In less than three minutes, each Pelican lifted off the deck and soared out into the stars. Inertial dampeners had been turned to low for this flight—why would cargo care about bumps and bruises?—and she reached out to hold onto the crash rail, swaying into the Chief's bulk as they turned. He leaned back into her, stabilizing her, though his grip on the rail was just as tight. He had always hated flying.

Not that she could blame him. The pelican rumbled as they passed through the roof, down into Infinity's atmosphere on the heels of three other cargo drops. There were no windows back here, no way to tell, but she glanced towards the hatch as they left the stars behind again. It would be different this time, she told herself. The UNSC knew where they were and Lasky would never leave without them. They wouldn't be left adrift again.

"Relax," John's voice pulled her attention back. He was looking down at her when she looked back. "We'll be back."

She took a breath. "I know."

The joys of being unable to forget things. She would always remember what it had felt like to soar into Requiem for the first time, protected only by flimsy metal debris and a failing shield system. That they'd made it down in one piece was testament to John's luck and little else. She'd been so sure that it had been about to become their grave.

_We exist together now…two corpses, in one grave._

Fighting back nausea that had nowhere to go, she focused on her copy of their flight path. Their bird turned west just as it should, diverting from the others as they headed east. Below them, the ocean bled up into sandy beaches which gave way to grassy hills and densely packed forests. The hatch mechanism opened with an oiled grinding noise, allowing in the pale blue light that came before the dawn, and another thump echoed from the cockpit. Letting go of the crash rail, the Chief grabbed onto the cargo netting with both hands and pushed, preparing the drop for release.

"Over the coordinates in three, two, one—mark."

With a hefty shove, the Chief sent the crate out into the dim, pre-dawn light. It soared through the air, tumbling end over end, and landed on the sand below. It was too distant to hear, but visibility was clear. Someone from Andromeda Base would be by to pick it up within the next five minutes if they weren't waiting behind cover.

"First drop away." She thumped on the cockpit door and watched as their pilot flew them further west, following the coastline below. "You know, when this is over, we should get you some downtime on the beach. Some sun would do you good."

"Mm."

She arched an eyebrow. Strange; a comment like that would normally earned her some teasing commentary in return. A check of his vitals confirmed they were stable, though a quicker check through the vid-link let her see that his face was a little tight again. The headaches that were going nowhere had reared their ugly heads again, it seemed. Reaching out to the on-board medical suite, she queued up a mild anti-inflammatory, just something to take the edge off because he would accept nothing more while on duty.

Spartans were never off duty, she thought morosely to herself, watching as he shoved the second crate down off the hatch. It bounced on landing, rolling into the tide. A soft hiss echoed through their private channel; she called no attention to it, walking to the hatch to look down at the beach.

"You think Buck would take volleyball instead of grifball? I figure we can take them at it if we work together."

No response. Keeping her eyes on the beach she turned on the vid-link and frowned to herself. He'd clenched his jaw, brow furrowed over his eyes like roiling thunderclouds. It wasn't about the game, she didn't think. He actually rather enjoying horsing around with the other teams. It wasn't Buck, either, or at least she didn't think so. But something was bothering him and—

"I don't want you near Osiris."

What? She turned to stare at him. He was already moving to prep the final crate, his back to her.

"Say again?"

"I don't want you near Osiris," he repeated, grabbing onto the crate and pulling. It didn't budge, causing him to have to duck to check the straps. She kept staring at him, stunned by what she was hearing. "Keep your distance."

Though his tone was as even as ever, she could hear the steel of the order beneath it and blinked, alarmed. It wasn't like him to order her to do something while out of a combat situation. She couldn't remember the last time he had when plasma hadn't been flying. He'd asked things of her, requested things, even pleaded a couple of times, but ordered? Never in their history had he done that. For him to do so now triggered every alarm she had. What had changed?

"Chief," She said slowly, "Is there something you want to tell me?"

"Spartan Locke tagged you as a threat when the Legion came online," he said, "And has been looking at you strangely since we left the Librarian's chamber."

What? She quickly consulted her stored copies of their helmet-cam footage and grimaced. Sure enough, there it was. Locke keeping his focus on her for longer than was strictly necessary to mind an ally out of combat, and the way he'd gone tense…something wasn't right.

"Well. That's just peachy, isn't it."

"You hadn't noticed?" John asked, his tone lifted half a note in incredulity as he stood back up, staring at her over the crate. She cocked her head, frowning.

"Chief, I went from two feet tall and inside your head to five feet tall and literally at your side—a little staring was to be expected!" No. She hadn't noticed. Been too focused on the world at large and on him to notice someone else who still pinged ally. She shook herself, getting out of the way as he prepared to move the last crate. "You don't think that he'd try anything, do you?"

"It's not a chance that I'm going to take."

With a solid kick, he sent the crate skidding down the bay and off the ramp. They watched it go, but Cortana's focus was internal. Touched as she was by his protective instincts, she couldn't understand the threat here. All of the IVs, Locke included, had treated her like one of their own for months. She practically had been, working so closely with John the way she had, and their deep respect for him had transferred into an only slightly shallower respect for her. At the very least, they'd been very polite to her. So why Locke wouldn't suddenly tag her as a potential threat…it made no sense to her.

The only reason she could think of was that he thought she'd take her newfound powers and turn on humanity, which was just insulting! She would never do that! She had no reason to and absolutely zero intention of abandoning John in the process. As far as she was concerned, her entire reason was right here in front of her.

But Locke didn't—couldn't—know that. All he would see was an AI no longer shackled by UNSC regulations, holding the leash of a thousand Promethean soldiers, and partnered to a Spartan II who was more than ready, willing, and able to go AWOL for her, regardless of if she asked or not. It was easy to see why he'd peg her as a threat. Her core lurched and she had to swallow hard. Armor creaked as John turned to look at her.

"Keep your distance," He repeated, his tone a degree softer than before. "And stay close to me. I won't let anything happen to you."

"I know."

All of her processes stalled for a single read, a single unified moment of shared purpose. He would protect her, and they—she—would protect him. There was no need to say it out loud, not when they both already knew it to be true. Still she smiled at him, and he nodded in understanding.

" _We're over the coordinates now, Master Chief_ " their pilot's voice came through the radio as they banked back to the west a final time. " _I can fly low or stay up here._ "

"Stay up here, Corporal," the Chief said, walking to the edge of the ramp. Cortana rolled her eyes skyward, already knowing where his thoughts were going. Why. Why, for once in his life, could he not do things the easy way? She followed him to the edge. "We'll make our own way in."

" _Copy that, sir. Good hunting._ "

Braced against the bank, the Chief opened one arm to her. She considered him and the height of the drop, then gave a mental shrug. Wouldn't be the first time he'd carried her down. She made her way forward, reaching up to hook an arm around his shoulders. Her helmet took shape, vid-link pinned beneath his vitals. She gave him a knowing look, arching an eyebrow as he wrapped an arm around her in return.

"You could have just asked if you wanted a hug."

The faintest of chuckles vibrated through his body, rumbling beneath her fingertips.

"Hang on."

Without any further warning or fanfare, he leapt from the back of the Pelican and towards the beach below. Unafraid, she watched sky bleed away, their bird continuing on track through the early morning sky. The false sun had yet to reappear, only the tiniest sliver of pale blue on the horizon telling her it was out there somewhere. Tall coniferous trees quickly blocked her view of even that much, plunging them into the dim blue twilight. Altitude checks told her their height had bled away; the Chief twisted his body beneath her as they approached solid ground, and with a single fire of his thrusters, got them safely on their feet. He opened his arm to let her go and she hopped down with a cheeky little grin.

"You landed on your feet again," She teased, "Are you showing off for a pretty girl, Chief?"

"Maybe. Is it working?"

"Maybe."

For a moment, the pair of them stood there on the beach, the only two people in the whole world. Moments like these, with adventure looming over the horizon but peace still wrapped around them, were moments she cherished more than any other. He was alive, he was safe, and he was happy. She could count those moments on one hand and still have fingers left over. Her eyes burning but chest light, she smiled.

"If you really want to show off, we could take a break. I wasn't kidding about that beach vacation, you know."

John huffed, shaking his head faintly.

"Another time."

And just like that, it was straight to work. The Chief stepped forward ahead of her, rifle up and headlamps off, and made his way up the beach. Keeping a careful eye on her motion tracker, Cortana followed him up the sandy dunes. It wasn't long until the soft sand gave way to harder packed soil, the hardy beach grass giving way to thicker, plusher greenery. Even that didn't last long before giving way to loamy soil and a thick bed of needles on the ground. The trees were some sort of analog to the pines that grew on Earth and her colonies, with low hanging boughs full of the needle like growth. She took a deep breath of the rich, slightly spicy scent, and cataloged it for study later.

For now, they had to go in there. The sun had yet to crest the trees, but even if it had, the branches and boughs were too thick to allow much sunlight to pass through them. Her core lurched for a half second, the visceral reaction to the dark broken only because she wasn't alone, wasn't helplessly trapped any longer. A quick tweak to her optics turned the whole world green and black, her night vision as good as any visor mode. She flashed a green light in the Chief's HUD when he sent her a query. She was good to go.

If he wasn't convinced, he didn't show it. He strode in ahead of her, pushing a pine bough out of the way with his rifle. She ducked beneath another bough and followed after him, scanning the woods as they went. No movement but their own. The Covenant had likely scared off any local wildlife, but where were they? And for that matter, where were the Soldiers? The battlenet was quiet, no sounds of combat to be heard for kilometers in any direction. Strange…she'd have expected at least a few plasma volleys. She stepped around a tree as she reached out to the Soldiers, receiving a few far off pings in response. Huh. They'd gone afield.

Noticing that she was no longer on his flank the Chief signaled her in close again; she fell in with a frown. No signs of the Covenant they'd been sure were there and no signs of the Soldiers? Her instincts started to scream that something wasn't right about this.

"Didn't SIGINT say there were supposed to be Covenant down here?" He asked, no doubt having the same thoughts.

"They did. At least three squads, same as the Soldiers reported. I told them to clear the area, but that was less than ten minutes ago…"

It shouldn't have been this quiet. Not in so short a time. They shared a quick look through the vid-link and the Chief swept the area with his rifle. Nothing. No one.

She didn't like this.

Tasking a process with the sole task of watching their trackers, she fell back half a stride to scan their six. Nothing. Her core lurched again, the equivalent to the flip of an organic's stomach, and she shook her head. She'd seen Forerunner bullshit too many times to let this one pull the wool over her eyes.

"Plasma burns." The Chief's voice pulled her back around. He'd stopped beside a particularly wide tree, one hand on the bark. As she came up behind him, she noticed the same thing he did. A series of black scorch marks in the pale brown bark, they were at just the right height for someone to have been attempting headshots. Or shooting wildly in a panic, either or. "They came through here."

"Judging by the angle and width of those shots, I'd have to say they came from…" She turned, pointing deeper into the woods. "There. That direction."

Setting a waypoint in their nav systems, she followed him deeper into the darkness. Not even birdsong broke the quiet, their footsteps and his breathing the only sound for hundreds of meters. With how quiet things were she was half expecting something to come lumbering out of the trees and try to eat them for breakfast, but there was nothing. It set her teeth on edge, a feeling not helped by the broken tree limbs they began to pass over. The deeper into the woods they got, the more obvious the signs of a fight became. Plasma scoring on trees, broken limbs from wild crashes through the forest, scattered shards of Needler rounds. A Jackal's discarded shield. None of it did anything to loosen the tension gripping her core.

Not even finding their corpses really helped.

"The Soldiers did this?" the Chief asked, lowering his rifle as they stopped at the edge of a circle of destruction. There was no other word for it: the Covenant had been laid to waste, bodies left sprawled across the forest floor. Hard-light burns scorched their flesh black, holes pierced through heads, necks, and torsos. Their equipment had been scattered, broken, rifles and pistols left in nearly unrecognizable pieces. Two halves of a plasma grenade lay sparking beside the corpse of a Grunt, limbs askew. Not even Spartans caused this much damage. He looked back at her. "How many were there?"

"Four to a squad." She breathed and looked up at him. "There's only one squad down here, Chief."

Four Soldiers had completely destroyed forty two Covenant. She could say whatever she wanted about Jul 'Mdama's leadership, about how less military he was than the Covenant of hold had been, but one thing he wasn't was stupid. His soldiers knew how to fight. For them to have all gone down like this? She turned around as her sensors were pinged a second time. The four Soldiers unfolded out of the dark, weapons in hand and power-lines bright.

"Any casualties?" She asked, looking them over. None had so much as a plasma burn. The lead Soldier stepped a little closer.

"Negative. Eta-901, Eta-581, Eta-710, and Eta-329 stand ready, Reclaimer."

Ready for more battle? For more killing? It was what they'd been built for, after all. Constructs made to serve as cannon fodder in war couldn't be bothered with things like morality and mercy. She had told them to clear the Covenant out, after all. They'd accomplished their task like the weapons they were.

So why did it sit so heavily in her stomach? It was obviously bothering the Chief because he was looking at them the same way that Locke had looked at her. As an unknown and unclassified on the field. Maybe friend, maybe foe, but equally as deadly. She flashed him a green light, keeping her eyes on the Soldiers.

"Maintain a perimeter," She ordered them, "Make sure nothing comes up behind us."

"Understood," Eta-901 snapped out a sharp motion she vaguely recognized was a salute, and then vanished in a flash of blue light. Her sensors registered that it and the others had reappeared back closer to the beach, but that was as far as she let them go. With a frown, she turned back to the carnage. The ground was torn up by dozens of feet, but this hadn't been a battle. It had been a massacre. Did the Covenant really deserve the same fate they'd forced upon humanity? It didn't sit right with her and she frowned.

"Maybe Locke's right to be concerned."

"What?"

"They did this on my orders, Chief. That kind of power…" She slowly shook her head, core catching on bad read after bad read. "They could destroy anything I told them to. What happens when I go too far?"

"You won't."

She couldn't look at him. Even as he took a step towards her, she looked away. He'd never had anything but faith in her, and it would hurt too much to lose that. She wasn't sure she'd survive it.

"You don't know that," She still said, "My code is part Forerunner now, and every Forerunner or Forerunner built construct we've run into has always gone off the rails. Megalomania, Rampancy, doesn't matter. They take things too far and it backfires and—"

His hand settled on her shoulder, warm and heavy. She looked up, needing to see his face, but all she saw was his helmet. In the vid-link, his eyes had gone heavy and soft.

"You won't," he repeated, squeezing her shoulder gently. "Whatever your code is made of, you're still you. I know you won't go too far."

"How?" She asked. "How can you know that?"

"Because I know you," He said as if it were the simplest fact in the galaxy. And maybe it was, she thought. You didn't ride shotgun in someone's head for weeks without getting to know them. He nodded firmly, just once, as if he could see his point sink home. Or maybe he just wasn't giving it any other options, because he let her go and scanned the area. "How far to the target?"

Her old soldier. Holding his steadfast faith to her core, she steadied herself and checked over the data the Soldiers had sent. Setting a waypoint was easy enough.

"Another half kilometer east. It's pretty deep in."

It was likely that alone that had saved it from being discovered sooner. Surrounded on all sides by at least two kilometers of densely packed forest, it was unassuming as far as Forerunner structures went. The angular spires that made up the structure itself were shorter than the trees around it, hiding beneath the needle-heavy boughs, and it was a singular round chamber rather than the sprawling complexes they were used to encountering. Soft blue-white light spilled out from inside, letting her turn her night vision mode down and then off as they stepped inside. As unassuming as the outside, the inside was single round chamber, softly glowing blue glyphs carved on the otherwise smooth metal surface of the walls.

"Well." She blinked, looking around, "This is new. It's practically humble by Forerunner standards."

"The Key is here?"

"The Soldiers were pretty sure of that…" Reaching out with a ping, she scanned the room. There was something in here, though her systems couldn't quite parse what it was just yet. No console, no terminal, no nothing. Just an empty room and some glowing drawings. Great. She frowned and scanned again. "But all I'm getting is an empty room!"

It couldn't be empty. Not entirely. There had to be something here! She paced from one end of the room to the other as the Chief walked a slow circle around the edge of the interior. They met up at the first line of glyphs to the left of the entrance, their glow the strongest of all the strings. She narrowed her eyes as her translation protocols hiccuped. Something about the structure of the sentence was giving them trouble…

"May this Key offer to guidance to those on their path to the Mantle," the Chief read before she could convince her protocols to earn their keep. Cortana turned around slowly, staring at him. He tilted his head, confused. "What?"

She hadn't translated any of those. He'd read them as easily as he read English, without even accounting for the different structures between human Germanic and Forerunner languages. She blinked, a hundred processes resetting themselves, and shook herself. Later. She'd bring it up later.

"Nothing, I just. Nevermind."

Much later. Before she could get another word out, the floor shifted beneath them. It lurched once, unseating them both, then slowly began to lower itself into the ground. No, not into the ground. Down a shaft!

"Cortana?"

"It's an elevator!" She exclaimed, turning to watch a door clang shut over the entrance. Something told her it would only open again when the elevator was back in the uppermost position. "That must have been a key phrase needed to activate it."

"Keep everyone else out."

Looked like it. The altimeter in her helmet began to tick downward, and the Chief's headlamps flicked on as they dropped so low the overhead light could no longer reach them. She called her rifle back into her hands, scouring the local area node for any schematics or maps of the structure. Like she'd expected, there was nothing to be found. This place was really off the grid. She shook her head when he glanced at her; they were running blind.

Nothing new there, at least.

When the elevator finally came to a halt, they were in the pitch black. Her core roiled as she switched to night vision and turned on her own head lamps, though the beams could only reach so far into the long, narrow corridor that awaited them. The only source of light was a small control panel at the rear of the elevator, waiting for them when they were ready to return. Hopefully it would still be here when they did.

Though the corridor was just wide enough for them to walk side by side she fell in behind the Chief without a need for a signal as he stepped off the elevator, boots clomping softly against the metal floor. No lights came on as they walked, no trace of power, terminal, or instruction. Odd. The entrance had had plenty of power and the elevator worked, so why was this so dark? How long had this place been down here that it no longer had power? A few thousand years, probably, if not longer. It was clear that it had been abandoned for a long time, their feet the first to tread these halls in centuries. The closed off nature of the structure kept them from making prints in dust, but nothing could have masked the stale scent to the air.

At least it wasn't infected air, she told herself, and fought back a shudder. No time to think about it.

"Why would they build this down here?" the Chief asked her privately, checking his corners. "It can't get power."

"I think it's more that the power generation systems went dark a long time ago. Judging by the trees up top, this area's been a low lying forest for a while. I don't think this facility could have gotten buried somehow." She hoped. She chanced a glance up at the ceiling and swallowed hard. Small, dark spaces. Perfect. "It is strange, though…Forerunner systems usually never run out of juice like this."

His fingers clenched tighter around his rifle. Readiness had seeped into every inch of his being, not quite tension so much as a preparedness for anything that came their way. She took a breath and shored herself up against his resolve, scanning their surroundings as they walked. Closed doors lead to small chambers; research labs or personal quarters? Maybe both. The doors didn't open as they passed, no power to their systems meaning they were as dead as the bulkheads in D-9. No point in trying to get them open just yet, either. They kept walking.

As they walked, a map of the facility began to take shape in her HUD. Long corridors sloping gently downward, rooms to either side of the hall, and the edge of a larger chamber just the edge of her sensors. If she had to guess, it was some sort of central atrium. Maybe another entrance had existed there at one point but no longer. Her map was gaining detail as they pressed forward and she passed the nav-data to the Chief's helmet. He adjusted their course accordingly, pressing on to the large central chamber. It took another five minutes of slow, careful walking, but eventually they came to what had to be an entrance.

Like all the rest, it was sealed shut. Cortana worried her lip between her teeth, shaking her head as the Chief glanced back at her. No glyphs, no key phrase, no automated entryway.

"No power," She said, "Short of an invitation, we'll have to force our way inside." The Chief's fingers flexed against his rifle. They shared a glance; with a smile, Cortana stepped back out of the way. "Be my guest."

Locking his rifle onto his back, he jammed his fingers into the thin seam between the two panels and shoved. The force multiplying circuits in his armor powered on, granting him strength no door could have been constructed to withstand. Forerunner metal screeched, sparks lighting up all along the track as the door steadfastly attempted to remain closed, but it stood no chance. It slammed into an open position, the Chief holding it there. She grinned.

"And some say chivalry is dead—" Activity! It pinged her sensors, setting off alarms in every direction. "Contacts!"

Flashes of orange light flared through the chamber ahead of them—a large circular atrium, as she'd expected—as the Prometheans finally showed up to the party. The Chief rushed in ahead of her, pulling his rifle from his back and opening fire in one smooth motion. She darted in on his heels, marking targets. Six Knights including one of the big ones the science teams had taken to calling Majors. Nothing really major about them, she thought. They were still Knights, and the bigger they were, the harder they fell.

As the Chief focused on the Major, she turned her attention to the Minors. Five of them pressing in from all sides. One target at a time, they'd go down. She tagged one at the outskirts of the group and spun out of the firing line, reappearing in a flash of blue light behind it. Shouldering her rifle she opened fire. Having adjusted her weapons to the new EMP protocol they'd encountered, the hard-light fire tore through metal and skeleton, leaving empty holes in its wake. It wasn't enough to destroy the Knight, not in a single volley, and it whirled around with a roar. She prepared to shove herself out of the way, but before she could it had already pulled the trigger on its own lightrifle.

Pain slammed into her middle as its shot completely bypassed her shields. A damage warning popped up in her HUD and she hurriedly squashed it, well aware that the shot had completely bypassed her shields and torn a hole clean through her side. With a gasp she shoved herself clear, reappearing on the other side of the room and dropping to her knees. The thump of an ionization field going off was muffled as she pulled her hand away from the wound, half expecting it to come away soaked in red.

It couldn't, of course. Hard-light left no bloody holes in bodies and she wasn't human to begin with. It was the only thing that had saved her from needing emergency abdominal surgery.

Not that it wasn't a problem. A quick check of her code made her hiss; it hadn't just damaged it, it had destroyed it! There was a gap in the code that made up her frame, lines completely erased. Thankfully it was a simple repair but the fact that it could do that at all was bone-chilling.

"Cortana, status!"

"Green," She got back to her feet, stifling a groan. Her repair protocols would take a minute to fix that. "Watch your shields! They've gotten some upgrades since we last saw them!"

The bark of assault rifle fire was the only answer she received. The Chief had fallen back to cover her while she recovered, but now that she was on her feet again he re-entered the fray. She quickly retuned her shields—for all the good that would do—before following him in, more careful to avoid getting shot this time. It was organized chaos for thirty seconds, light-shot and bullets flying, but the Knights were the first to fall. With a scream of rage and pain, the Major was the last to go down. Still pained, Cortana checked her motion tracker and her sensors.

"Clear," She announced, sighing gustily. "All hostiles eliminated."

"What happened?" the Chief asked, hurrying back to her side, "I thought you said your shields could dissipate the force?"

"Up to thirty percent," She reminded him, pressing a hand to where she'd been shot. Her armor had repaired itself first, but the frame beneath it was still tender, aching fiercely. Her code was nearly done patching itself, thankfully. She shook her head. "And apparently it can't handle the new and improved toys they're carrying around."

Why would it? They were EMP weapons, after all, and she was nothing more than code. Forerunner, Human, it didn't matter. She was in-organic, simple electricity and light. She could no more change what she was made out of than John could. He looked her up and down, grip tightening on his rifle.

"Are you…going to be alright?" He asked quietly. If she had been organic he'd have already been pulling the biofoam canister from his armor for her, but she wasn't. He couldn't. There was nothing he could do for her in this situation and he hated it. She reached out, putting a hand on his forearm.

"Don't worry. I've lasted this long, haven't I?" She tilted her head. "A few trigger happy Knights aren't going to be what does me in, Chief."

Even if getting shot did absolutely suck. She'd just have to be more careful around the Prometheans, that was all. He looked her over one more time, than nodded firmly to himself.

"Stay behind me," he commanded as he turned around, "Stay sharp."

_Sir yes sir_ she snarked to herself, but did as he asked and fell in behind him. Not that there was far to go; though the circular chamber was large, the only way forward was a set of stairs at the edge of the room. He went down first, then flashed a green light when he'd deemed it safe for her to proceed. Favoring her wounded side, Cortana followed him down onto the next level. No Knights appeared to greet them, just another empty chamber and another set of stairs across the room. They shared a glance.

"Can't go up…"

"We go down."

They went down. Level by level, step by step, they went down. A hundred meters. Two hundred. Four hundred. Seven levels down into the core of the earth before the stairs finally stopped, leaving them in one final empty chamber.

At least this one had a door on the other end!

As the Chief scanned the room with his rifle, Cortana considered it from another angle. Seven levels down into the ground when they had already gone down another four hundred meters in the elevator alone…they were approaching the purely manufactured level of Requiem. Had that been intentional? It would have made a good place to shield the Key, after all. No one would get this far down by accident. Someone would have had to have been looking for the Key to get this far down.

This was starting to feel like a trap.

"Am I the only one who's starting to feel like this is a set-up?" She asked, and when the Chief glanced at her through the vid-link she shrugged. "Just saying it seems a bit too easy for how important this thing is."

"We haven't found it yet," he pointed out, and headed for the door. Signaling her to go to the wall on one side of it, he jammed his fingers into the seam like he'd done at the entrance to the atrium. No sooner had he done so did her sensors flare to life.

"We've got company! Other side of the door—"

A bright orange-white glow flooded the space between them. They both looked at the door, the metal glowing white hot as something attacked it from the other side. Her core lurched, freezing for half a moment.

"Uh-oh."

Chaos. The Chief leapt aside, plastering his back to the wall, as bright orange hard-light melted clean through the door! A thick beam of it seared across the room, slamming into the wall on the other side, and broke off a second later. Throwing her sensors wide she cursed between her teeth.

"Knights incoming!"

The Chief reloaded his rifle and spun on his heel to meet them as Knights piled out of the doorway and into the atrium. Cortana hurried out of the way, spinning on her heel to open fire. The Knights scattered, hard-light bouncing across the chamber, and she had to focus more on not getting shot than returning fire! Bright orange light and the sound of something charging in the other room yanked her attention to the door.

"Get down!" The Chief shouted, and though she wasn't in the line of fire she threw herself back all the same. Another long, bright beam of hard-light seared through the air. One hit from that would tear her to shreds and utterly wreck him. They couldn't get hit!

"Clear out the Knights!" She shouted back, spinning on one heel to open fire on one that had decided she was the easier target. It lived to regret it, but not for long. Her retuned shields could take a couple of shots, it turned out, but not enough for her to keep in one spot. She had to keep moving, spinning in and out of the Domain in a dizzying whirl of salt water air and hardlight. No singular process could have handled it, but she was no singular process.

Splitting her attention in six different directions she did her best to keep an eye on the Chief, their targets, and the cannon in the other room. It was a simple enough task, and the process watching him was unconcerned. His shields whined and fell as he got a little too close to a scattershot wielding Knight, but he had the matter well in hand. Eight targets had entered the room, and eight targets fell beneath their combined efforts. There was no time to celebrate.

Another searing blast of cannon fire had Cortana ducking instinctively, glaring at the door when it stopped. The Chief had already made his way back to the doorway, though it was really more of an archway now. Molten metal dripped slowly along the frame.

"Any ideas?"

"Only that it's got to go down." Waiting until it had fired again, Cortana chanced a look around the doorway. It was a particle cannon shrunk down by maybe three orders, but that didn't make it any less deadly. She jerked back into cover before it could shoot her head off, unwilling to test her ability to survive that kind of a hit. Bright orange heat seared where she had just been, setting off warnings in both suits of armor. "But I don't know how we can get close enough!"

There was no cover that could withstand the force of those blasts for long, no shield that could hold. It could only fire in one direction as far as she could tell, but the blasts came so quickly that getting past them would be difficult. Maybe—motion. She glanced up at him.

"Chief—"

"It opens its core when it fires," He said, priming a grenade from his thigh mag-lock. "It's vulnerable then."

"And so are you!"

But he didn't really care about that now, did he? Without her in his head, he had no reason to be cautious—no. No, that wasn't true. It just left him with a few more inches to maneuver, and a Spartan could do a lot with an inch. A frustrated groan built up in her throat; reaching into the Domain, she pulled out a hard-light shield emitter and tossed it at him. He caught it, hooked it to his arm, and nodded once. The cannon fired, lighting him up in orange, and the moment the beam stopped he moved.

Spartans were fast, she knew that, but watching him move through only one set of eyes told her just how fast they really were. He darted into the other room in less than a second, drawing the cannon's attention away from the doorway. She watched, heart in her throat, as the metal plates that made up its form spun around, gathering energy to fire on him. It didn't take long before it had gathered enough power and it opened up to shoot. Three things happened at once then: he kicked on the shield, bracing himself behind it, the grenade in his hand soared across the room, and the cannon fired.

It slammed into him with all the force of a tank. The force of the blast instantly turned the shield from blue to red, the light flickering as he was shoved back to the wall. She could almost feel that impact in her own frame and moved to rush in after him to provide covering fire, but before she could get past the doorway the grenade went off. Metal screeched as it was sent flying, the grenade feeding off the stored energy and exploding in all directions. Metal shards were driven into the walls at speed, one rushing past his head to embed itself an inch to his left.

One inch. A single inch. Her core stopped for half a heartbeat before it restarted itself, the cannon gone and room plunged into blue-tinged darkness from his shield.

"Clear," he announced a second later, the shield dissipating back into the emitter. He glanced at the shard, heart skipping a beat, then shook himself and looked to her. "You okay?"

He'd almost had his head cleaved in two and his first thought was about her? What was she going to do with him.

"I'm not the one who almost got turned into a pincushion," she grumbled, flashing a green light in his HUD all the same. Yes, yes, she was fine. She was always fine when he stood between her and danger like that! Stubborn, stubborn man. He looked away with a shrug as if his own safety didn't matter, as if it didn't matter than he'd nearly lost his head, and she huffed. Stubborn. "Come on. Let's find that stupid Key and get out of here before something else decides to say hello."

Not that there was much farther to look. As well defended as this chamber had been, there was no other way forward. It was a simple empty room, no doors or stairs or lifts, just a room. She fiddled with her sensors, trying to figure out why a seemingly empty room had been so staunchly defended. The Chief walked a slow circle of the room as she worked.

"Why set up an automated defense system for an empty room?" He asked after a minute had passed. "There has to be something here."

"I'm getting minor fluctuations on all spectrums, but I'm not seeing anything." Cortana replied, looking around again. Unless her sensors were going there was something in here. It was just a matter of finding it. "It…might be like the elevator? A key phrase needed to gain access." She looked around the room. The walls were smooth, perfectly rounded. If it was like the elevator, there would be glyphs somewhere. Where—ah! There. Just to the left of the doorway. He met her there, reaching out with one hand to touch a single glyph.

"Mantle." He read off before she could translate, tilting his head. "We've heard that before."

"Yeah, we have." She crossed her arms over her chest, looking at him more than the glyphs. "The Librarian mentioned it the first time we met, and the Didact sure wouldn't shut up about it. She wants humanity to have it, he doesn't." Like kids caught between divorcing parents. She huffed, unamused. "The way they talk about it, it's almost like it's some sort of physical object."

"It's not?"

"No, it's more of a set of socio-political doctrines or guidelines than any physical thing." She frowned at the glyphs. "At least, that's how the Forerunners interpreted it. Hell if I know for sure."

The Chief hummed low in his throat. "What else does it say?" He asked, and when she looked at him dead on, he tilted his head in confusion. "What?"

"You can't read this? You read the one at the door pretty easily." She said, and watched with a lurching core as he looked between her and the glyphs. He hadn't been aware he'd read them himself. Oh. Oh, no. "Chief…I didn't translate the glyphs upstairs. You read those on your own."

The hand he'd laid on the wall tensed, curling into a half-fist. His vitals kicked up from their post combat state and he pushed away from the wall, shaking his head. All Spartans were multi-lingual, each speaking at least half a dozen human languages thanks to their broad training and education, and they'd all picked up a few choice words from the Covenant, but Forerunner? Even knowing a few glyphs wouldn't have been enough to translate and properly speak a phrase. She reached out to him, fingers skimming his arm.

"Chief—"

"It's fine." He said, though they both knew it wasn't. One more thing the Librarian had done to him, she thought. If she ever saw that Forerunner again she was going to shake her upside down and sideways until a sincere apology fell out. "What does it say?"

Resolving to talk about all of this with him later, Cortana glanced back at the glyphs.

"Guardianship of all living things falls to those whose evolution is most complete. The Mantle of Responsibility shelters all, but only the Forerunners are its masters."

Her sensors screamed at her, warning of a slipspace rupture directly behind them. Blue light flared to life and they both whirled around, weapons coming to hand, but no attack came. Only a column of blue light appearing in the center of the chamber, nothing more and nothing less. They shared a look and took careful steps towards it. When nothing happened she glanced at him and he shrugged, a quick rise and fall of his shoulders. No consoles, no controls. Just light. She narrowed her eyes at the column and wondered. Just light…maybe…

She reached out to touch the column. Before her fingers could graze it, the Chief grabbed her wrist and stopped her. She closed her eyes, sensors tuned to his heart racing.

"Chief…"

"Let me." Determination had settled into his tone. When she opened her eyes, he was looking right at her. She frowned, a dozen arguments on her lips. He shook his head. "My armor's thicker."

That was. He had a point, but. "I don't think armor's going to matter with this much voltage, Chief."

"Shields are stronger."

"Chief…"

He tightened his grip on her wrist. He was worried and didn't have the words to say it. She wouldn't ask him to find them because she understood. She hardly wanted him to get jolted, either! Counting to ten, she sighed through her nose and splayed her fingers.

"Okay. Okay, but if you get jolted I am not saving you from the Commander."

A soft huff rumbled down the channel. He let her go and she stepped aside, ready to reach out and knock him clear if something did go wrong. Setting his stance, he reached out to the column. When his fingers grazed the bright blue light she braced herself for the bang, but no bang came. There was a flicker, a flash, and then glyphs began to appear in the column of light. _Reclaimer_ , they read, _Mantle_ , _Key_ , and _Guidance_. If she applied those to the standard structure of Forerunner language, then…it made a phrase. She translated it quickly.

"Allow this Key to Guide the Reclaimers forward, so that they may claim the Mantle."

Another key phrase. Like water draining down a sink, the light began to fall away. Their headlamps clicked on in the darkness that followed, lighting up both the chamber and the object that had been hidden within the light.

Smaller than a pistol, the rectangular shape of the Janus Key hung suspended in midair, spinning around and around in slow, lazy turns. She reached out to ping it, receiving a connection in response. Coordinate data unfolded within her systems, a thousand pieces of abandoned technology scattered across the Orion arm of the galaxy. Each had been left to rust until now, now that the Reclaimers had come to collect them. This was just one such piece. Setting the data aside to be sorted out later, she walked forward.

"Cortana…"

"I know."

Mindful of where she put her feet, she carefully stretched out an arm to grab the Key. The Chief clasped her other wrist in his hand, anchoring her despite the solid ground beneath their feet. The moment she had her prize, the Chief pulled her back to safety. She had to scramble to keep her feet or crash into his chest, one hand coming up to brace against his chestplate. She could almost feel his racing heart from there, looking up at his face. He looked down at her, looked her over from head to toe, and nodded just once. She was fine, she could all but hear him telling himself. Everything was fine.

Everything except for him.

"That's the Key?"

"Mm-hmm," She twisted it in her hands for a closer look. As far as Forerunner relics went it was pretty plain, a simple rectangular shape made of two differently colored metals. Both sides been carved with glyphs and symbols her translation protocols pegged as _map_ and _guidance_. Like calling a shelf full of maps _Maps_ , really, and just as useful. The largest glyph in the center read _Key_ , raised from the rest of the metal rather than carved into it. She tilted her head.

"What do you make of this?"

"Some sort of switch." He reached over, his finger tracing the symbol. "Are you getting anything from it?"

"A lot of mapping data, but…" She frowned. "I'm only able to access it because of what I am. There's no way an organic Forerunner could have done this, which means…" there had to be a way to turn it on properly. She turned it around one more time, then flipped back to the raised glyph. A switch, huh. She glanced up at him and shrugged. "Nothing ventured?"

"Nothing gained." He braced himself, and her. "Do it."

One press of her thumb depressed the central glyph. At first, nothing happened, but when she released the pressure, light flared through the chamber. The empty, dark space came to life as a bright blue hologram emitted from the central glyph, the same watery edges to the Librarian's space rippling across the walls. But rather than the same empty space inside, there were dozens upon dozens upon dozens of glowing white spheres, each wrapped in twisting rings, floating through the chamber. Each were layered with coordinate data and the beginnings of what had to be a catalog system, serial numbers written in Forerunner glyphs across the rings. Still standing at her side, the Chief looked around the room.

"A map," He said quietly, "Of all Forerunner technology in the galaxy."

"Every surviving piece," Cortana breathed, twisting to try and get a good look at all of it. Having a list of all of this in her databases was one thing, but to see it all like this…it was breathtaking. Scattered across hundreds of planets and star systems, they were all that was left of the once vast Forerunner empire. Well, almost all.

If the Didact was one of these markers, they could search for a thousand years and never find him. Her core lurched.

"The Didact could be any one of these. How do we even start looking for him?"

"We need a reference point." The Chief said, "Can you find Requiem on this?"

She glanced down at the Key in her palm and frowned. No instructions, only instinct. Closing her fingers around it, she pressed it to her chestplate. The weight of it vanished from her hand and when she opened her fingers, it was gone. The hologram was still on, but when she waved a hand through it, the markers shifted in alignment in response. Haptic displays. Handy. The Chief glanced at her.

"Cortana?"

"It's alright. I just took the Key into my core." She shook her head, "Don't worry. It's just data."

A lot of it, but barely a drop in the bucket by Domain standards. It settled into her code as an additional process in her core, easily turned on or off. She kept it on, turning on a map of the Milky Way as well. Both had to shrink down to fit properly in the chamber, and with a few gestures the haptic displays zeroed in on the Epoloch system, allowing her to anchor them both to its location. Requiem glowed a bright, vibrant yellow, the glyphs on its surrounding rings reading _shield_ and _prison_.

Yeah, would have been nice to know that ahead of time.

"This is Requiem," she twisted her hands again, pushing them in closer, into Requiem itself and to the western landmass where they stood. Past the initial yellow outer shell, the facility lit up as well, surrounded by scattered markers in what had to be a three hundred kilometer radius. They had only begun to scratch the surface of what the planet had to offer! The science teams were going to lose their minds over this. Could she get in any closer? "And this—" She punched them in further, right up into the facility, where two blue lights stood among the rich yellow. Her and the Key? Or maybe her and the Chief. "Is us."

At this level of detail, she could track it all. The soldiers, any mobile artifacts, it was all here, just waiting to be discovered!

But that wouldn't help them find the Didact. Pulling herself back, she frowned at the map.

"Now, the question is…how do we track the Didact with this? It must work on some sort of radio frequency in order to keep track of everything, but without a proper signal to chase I wouldn't know where to start looking and—"

Solidity pressed against her back. She turned, looking up and over her shoulder at the Chief as he stepped up behind her, so close she couldn't really tell where he ended and she started. His arms came up, bracketing her on either side.

"Pull back out," he said, his voice oddly soft. He was hyper-focused on the map, didn't so much as look at her. "Leave Requiem."

He didn't sound like himself. She turned her attention to his vitals; stable, higher than she would have liked, but calmer than before. The thundering beat of his heart had begun to slow down. His hands were warm around hers, and so even though her instincts were screaming at her that something was wrong, she did as he asked. She pulled them first out of Requiem, then out of Epoloch when he asked for that, too. When they had re-entered the Orion arm proper his hands cupped hers, guiding her through a series of motions he had no way of knowing. Her core began to slow in slowly dawning terror.

"Chief?"

He didn't respond, simply continuing to guide her hands. The map soared north—or at least, whatever passed for north in space—and towards the outer edge of UNSC space. Releasing her hands, he slipped away from her as the map came to a halt in a system near the rim, four planets orbiting a blue giant. A single planet within the system glowed with Forerunner technology somewhere beneath the surface. She took a step towards him.

"John?"

"He's there," He said. "Somewhere on that planet."

Her core lurched. "How do you know that?"

For a moment, the Chief didn't answer. He continued to stare at the map, hyper-focused. Alarms blared in her helmet as his vitals started tanking. She reached out towards him—

"I don't know."

With a clatter of armor plating and a heart-stopping thud, John collapsed.

* * *

"Chief! Oh—no, no no no Chief stay with me—Chief!"

_The battlefield spread out before him, once vibrant fields of thick golden grain reduced to nothing more than ashen mud. Thunder tore across the skies, rain drumming against his combat skin as he and his fellow Warrior-Servants pressed their assault on the human forces. A dozen squads of the persistent aggressors were rushing through the field, weapons firing blue light in stark contrast to the golden hard-light of the lightrifle in his hands. They had sent their best to this backwater, all of them aiming to reach the communications relay in the fields beyond._

_If they reached it, communications in this sector would fall. He could not allow that to happen._

_"Push forward," he commanded his soldiers, "Don't let them pass this field."_

_A dozen **yes sir** 's rang through his communication system. In a single well drilled move, his squad pushed forward into the field, exchanging fire with the humans as they continued their desperate, violent push. He tried not to wonder about why they were fighting so hard; that wasn't his question to ask. Soldiers blazed past him, streets and white and blue, and the screams of the dying filled his ears. It mixed with the all too familiar sounds of gunfire, settling uneasily in his gut._

_This wasn't right. This wasn't right this was all wrong why was he fighting his own people—_

_"More forces on the south flank!"_

_The warning from another squad leader pulled his attention. He gestured his team forward to shore up the south, squashing the instinctive urge to duck as Phaetons buzzed overhead, chasing down the small craft the humans were so fond of. Gold and blue lights flew through the air, dozens upon dozens of bodies falling as they pushed back the attacking force._

_Not for the first time, he wondered if there could have been another way._

_His second's back slammed into his. Bracing his weight he shored her up, kept her on her feet._

_"They're coming from everywhere," She spat, cursing under her breath, "We can't hold the field like this!"_

_She was right, as always. He looked around, took in the numbers from both sides, and opened a wide channel._

_"All forces fall back," he ordered, "Fall back and hold the canal! Let them have the field!"_

_All around them, combat began to break off. The Warrior-Servants and Soldiers began to give ground as they retreated, leaving the fallen where they lay. He and his second spread out to cover the retreat, but no sooner had they taken fifteen paces did she look to the skies._

_"Look out!"_

_She was gone before he could reach her, consumed in white fire._

"John! Shit—John, snap out of it! Come on, Spartan, wake up!"

_He was alone. The last of his unit still standing, still fighting, he fired at the Warrior-Servants that were pressing in from all sides. He knew he would not be leaving this battlefield alive and had long accepted that his death would come today. It came for everyone in the end, and he would not fight it._

_But that didn't mean he was going to stop fighting. He made the Warrior-Servants fight for every step they took towards him, quick shots to chests driving them back. A grenade landed beside him and he threw himself away, coming up to drive his armored fist into the face of another Warrior-Servant, driving them back and making an opening. He wrenched their gun from their hand, cleanly shot them through the head, then opened fire on their fellows. Each shot bought him another second, bought the others more time. Each second bought them more time to complete the mission._

_But even he couldn't last forever. A small craft screamed across the sky, hard-light firing from its cannons and slamming into the blood soaked mud beneath them. Heedless that they were firing on their own soldiers as well as on him, the pilot continued to shoot. He tried to turn, to dodge away, but at the last second one blast slammed into his chest and sent him flying back. There was no pain, no sadness, no anger._

_There was simply death, laying on his back in the rain. Footsteps drew near and when he pried his eyes open, the Didact knelt in the bloody muck beside him. His helmet retracted, the ancient face beneath not the one he had seen before. It was kinder, warmer, and weighted down by an ancient sadness. A six fingered hand lifted his head, cradling it with a fatherly kindness he could only barely recall._

_"This is what we were, Reclaimer," the Didact said in a voice that was not his own, "You must see that your own people do not share the same fate."_

_"I don't—" he struggled to breathe through the copper in his throat, "—Understand."_

_"You will." The Didact said, "In time. I can only hope there is still time to stop this from becoming your fate as well."_

_He didn't understand. What was this? Where was this? He didn't know where he was or what had happened where was Cortana was she safe where was-_

_With a muffled **thump** an explosion went off somewhere in the distance. The sky was consumed in fire, and the world went white._

"Chief?"

Awareness returned with a knife-sharp throb in his temple, hard enough to make his eyes water. Though they were already closed, he squeezed them shut tighter, taken off guard by the sudden pain and wave of nausea it caused. Had he hit his head on something? Only major concussions had ever hurt this badly before.

"Chief? Hey, come on. Open your eyes for me."

He didn't want to. The darkness couldn't make his head hurt any worse, at least, but to keep his eyes closed was to keep the worry in Cortana's voice. Slowly, carefully, he cracked one eye open.

"Oh thank goodness," She sighed, crouched in front of him. She was the only light in the darkness, her glow faint and pale in the black of the now empty chamber. When his eye adjusted to that, he cracked the other one open as well. She bowed her head, hair drifting across her face and hiding her expression from him. It couldn't hide the relief in her voice.

Something had happened. He took stock; the headache was the fiercest of all his aches and pains, throbbing in time with his heartbeat, but his entire body hurt more than usual. Muscles trembled, energy spent, and even his bones were aching! He looked up for his mission timer, wondering how much time he'd lost, but found nothing. No timer, no HUD, no helmet. Where was his helmet? He didn't know. He couldn't remember taking it off. Had they been attacked by something again? He tried to remember, but there was only darkness.

"What happened?" He tried to ask, having to swallow between one word and the next. His voice was raspier than usual, thick copper coating the back of his throat. He swallowed it down, grimacing at the sharp pain. Had he been shouting? He couldn't remember-he moved to try and sit up. "Was there an attack?"

"No no no don't move-" Cortana pushed him back down, surprising him. "Your systems are still resetting. Just lay back." Once he was down and blinking at her again she shook her head. "No one attacked us, Chief, you." She looked aside, worrying her lower lip, then looked back at him and said, "You had a seizure."

"What?" Had he heard her right? That couldn't be right. He frowned up at her. "A seizure?"

"Or something close enough to count," She said, and it was then that he realized she had one hand on his shoulder, the other holding his hand on the floor. Her thumb rubbed small circles in the space between pauldron and vambrace. If he focused on that, his breath came a little easier. She was warm. "You just dropped and started convulsing. It was…" She closed her eyes. "I couldn't get it to stop."

He knew how she felt. Though he couldn't remember what had happened, to have to watch her partner drop without warning and be helpless to stop it, helpless to do anything…he had lived through that heart-stopping terror once already. It wasn't something he would have wished on anyone, but certainly not on her. He set aside his discomfort at the lost block of time in his memory; she came first.

"It's okay," He said, closing his fingers around the hand she had nestled in his palm. Even through the techsuit and her armor he could feel her warmth as she returned his grip with all the strength she could muster. "I'm okay."

"You're not," she said, shaking her head. "You're really not. Seizures don't just happen for no reason, Chief, and for you to just suddenly drop like that—"

He squeezed her hand. "It's okay. I'm not going anywhere."

She took a shaky breath, composing herself. "You're not immortal," She said, her eyes so sad that he knew tears would have spilled from them if they could. His heart sank. "And we don't know what's going on here. The dreams, the headaches, what the Librarian did…it could be anything! We don't know enough and I just." She squeezed her eyes shut, took a second, steadier breath, and when she opened them again steely resolve looked back at him. "I'm going to figure this out. There's a way to fix this, I just have to find it."

Spending more of her life looking after him. "You don't have to do that."

"Of course I do! John," Shaking her head, she lifted her hand from his shoulder and rested it gently on the side of his face. Her thumb began to stroke lightly across his cheekbone. "We take care of each other, remember? Whatever it takes, we're going to fix this somehow."

Whatever it took. A contrite feeling settled in the back of his mind. Such worry had not been the aim but there had been no time to explain properly—

Those weren't his thoughts.

Every muscle tensed, body going rigid. Those weren't his thoughts!

"Chief?"

"There's something—"

Without warning a piercing whistle rang through their radios, echoing in the open air of the chamber. The two note emergency broadcast coming from his helmet nearby had them scrambling to their feet, all other topics forgotten or pushed aside.

" _Commander Palmer to all Spartan Fireteams: **Infinity** has been boarded!_"


	8. Chapter 8

" _Warning: Intrusions detected in Hangar Bays A-2, A-5, B-8, C-4, D-5, and D-9. Intrusions detected on Decks 13, 29, 37, and 54. All personnel to battle station. Repeat: All personnel to battle stations._ "

The canned recording was the calmest thing for kilometers. The halls of the _Infinity_ were in complete chaos; bullets flew from all angles as the Marines, Spartans, and security teams fought to defend their ship from the invading Covenant and Promethean forces. They took cover wherever they could, be it behind half open doors or jammed bulkheads, plasma and hard light scoring black above their heads. Cortana swore vehemently, forced to duck as a Knight nearly got lucky.

"Dammit!"

"Got you covered, ma'am!" Castle Lead called out, and with six shots from him and Castle 3 the Knight went down, "Majestic, where are those blast doors?!"

"Working on it!" Spartan Thorne shouted down, ducking beneath plasma fire as another dropship burst through the barriers of Bay A-2. "Kind of hard when I'm getting shot at every two seconds!"

Reloading her rifle, Cortana popped out of cover and shot at the Grunt that had tried to decapitate Thorne. It went down with a strangled shout, throat torn open by hard light. An Elite barked an order somewhere in the rear of the Bay, but even that was cut off by a round of gunfire, the Chief pinned down in the corner with Castle 2 and 4. He flashed a blue status query at her, one she answered with a green light. He returned his attention to the invading force, shooting down a charging Grunt. Two plasma grenades went live a second later, flaring blue-white light through the bay. The rest of their troop soon followed, felled by gunfire from Castle and Cortana before they could push too far into the hanger. A moment of silence fell over the room; the ground won over the past five minutes was still theirs.

For now.

"Majestic, the doors!" The Chief barked, reloading. A Phantom buzzed by outside, too close for the ship to ship defenses to safely take out. Cortana called on another hardlight shield and tossed it to Castle Lead, knowing his peering out of cover meant he was planning a move.

"Working on it, just give me another second—there!"

The blast doors lowered slowly, too slowly. Though the Phantom was barred from entering and disgorging more troops, it could still turn and shoot at them! Cortana ducked, hands over her head, as plasma seared into the bay. The shots went wide, striking the walls instead of her Spartans, but the heat still seared through the air. Alarms blared in her systems and she silenced them ruthlessly. With a heavy metal clang, the bay went quiet.

"Doors sealed!" Spartan Thorne announced. Everyone got to their feet, hurrying up the ramps. Bay A-2 was just one of the many places aboard _Infinity_ that had been breached by either Covenant or Prometheans. There was no point in standing around here. The Chief looked over his motley crew.

"Majestic, hold position here," he ordered, "Keep the Covenant from retaking this bay. Castle, push up the starboard side and help Domino take back A-5. Cortana, you're with me."

Eight _yes, sir_ s rang through the bay. The Spartan teams split up, hurrying to comply with their orders. Cortana paused only long enough to pass the Chief a hard-light shield of his own before she hurried after him. The corridors were just as full of Covenant as the hangar bay had been, and she had to hurry into cover as the Chief pressed forward. She pressed her back against the nearest wall, peering around the corner, only to have to jerk back into cover as a Jackal tried to get lucky while her partner was busy.

"Son of a—do they ever stop!?" She grumbled into the private channel, ducking back around the corner to fire off a shot through the small gap in the Jackal's shield. It reeled back, arms splaying wide, and fell clean over when a second shot pierced its head, dropping it where it stood.

"It's the Covenant," the Chief pointed out, lowering his rifle from where he'd taken the killing shot. He moved quickly to reload, steady hands not once faltering despite what had happened less than an hour ago. "They never stop."

She knew the type. "See a losing battle where there is one, then," Cortana scrunched up her face. Her sensors and trackers flared red as another squad of Covenant turned the nearby corner. Here they went again! "They have to run out of bodies sooner or later!"

Later rather than sooner, it seemed. Between the two of them and Fireteam Whiskey sheltering at a bulkhead further up the hall they were able to clear the corridor, but the sounds of other battles still raging all throughout the ship filled her comms-channels. If things kept up at this rate, they'd lose the _Infinity_ before the day was out! She scowled to herself; they were not going to lose this ship!

"Roland, sitrep."

" _We've got Covenant and Prometheans all over the ship_!" He shouted back at her, frazzled, " _I'm counting upwards of a thousand contacts scattered all over the place and—watch out! You've got incoming!_ "

"Look alive, Whiskey!" She shouted in SQUADCOM; four heads jerked up and six weapons opened fire as a squad of Knights and Crawlers dropped in on top of them. She had to hurry back out of the line of fire as the Chief pressed forward, hard-light skimming across his armor. There were so many Prometheans aboard the ship that the local area node was stuffed full of them, leaving her no room to push through and no way to call the Soldiers for back-up. She grit her teeth and pressed up after him, "Whiskey 2, watch your left flank!"

"Aye, ma'am!"

Bullets and hard-light filled the air as both sides exchanged shots. A rifle blast seared past her shoulder, EMP rounds carving a furrow out of her with a hiss. Miserable little—she slapped a patch on it and kept going, guarding their six. It didn't take long for the squad of Prometheans to go down swinging, hard-light scoring across walls and armor, but there were no Spartan casualties yet. She'd take it. Her radio crackled.

" _Roland_ ," Commander Palmer's voice was harsh, snapping across the line despite the warping static, " _Roland, do you have eyes on the Captain._ "

"Negative, Commander—he was last seen on the Command Deck but my sensors in that area are still dark."

The Chief and Cortana shared a look, unsure. The all hands to battle stations order had been given before they'd boarded the ship with Majestic and Castle, but with the Captain currently MIA…the chain of command was clear and orders were to be followed no matter what state they were in. The only sign of the Chief's discomfort was how he shifted his weight, a blaring neon sign to anyone who knew how to look. She longed to shove him to Medical but shunted the thought aside. There was no time.

" _Great!_ " the Commander exclaimed, " _Does anybody have a clear route up to the bridge?_ "

Cortana called up the ship schematics on her HUD with a thought. A quick scan told her that everyone in this bay did, though it involve leaving the hangars and heaviest fighting behind to cut through the maintenance causeways nearby. She pressed her lips together, contemplated saying nothing for half a second, then shook herself off.

"We do, Commander," she replied. The Chief's voice echoed off the corridor walls as he gave orders to Whiskey, Franklin, and Venus as they came in from clearing the nearby bays. Majestic was still holding A-2 and Castle had bolstered Domino in A-5. They wouldn't take long to finish up. All other teams were to work their way through the bays and seal them up as fast as they could, clearing out incursions as they went. With any luck that would cut off the invading Covenant forces and give them time to clear out the Prometheans without getting bombarded with plasma. "The Chief and I'll head to the Command deck and extract him."

" _Negative, Cortana_ " the Commander said, startling her, " _I need you in D-9. Our glowing friends started popping in around that brick. Way I figure it's where they're coming from and I need you on site to help me take it down. Chief, meet up with Crimson and find the Captain._ "

For half a moment more the two shared a look, hesitating. She was loathe to leave him while his vitals were still so unstable and he wouldn't want to leave her now that they knew the Prometheans had weapons capable of damaging her. But what choice was there? Orders were orders. He looked at her, really looked at her, the wordless question of was she sure hanging between them. Was she? No. But this wasn't about her, or him, or them. Swallowing back her trepidation she nodded firmly. He sighed, returning her nod.

"Wilco, Commander," he said, his voice still rough. "Crimson, rendezvous at waypoint Alpha-7. Load up for heavy opposition. Cortana," A yellow flash told her he'd gone to a private channel and she looked back at him. "Keep your head down."

She read the worry in those four short words, her core torn between warmth and chill at how deep it went. She knew it would have been easier for him if she'd still been in his head, but this was how things were now. Turning on the vid-link, she smiled for him. It was all she could do now.

"You too. I'll see you when this is over."

With one more nod, he turned and left her. She waited until he had turned the corner into the maintenance causeway before turning and rushing down the corridor. Airlocks had been forced open by the Covenant, allowing her ease of access through to B block. B-8 and B-4 had been taken, but her path took her past B-2, leaving her reliant on pinging _Infinity_ 's already overloaded systems to check on the fireteams within. IFFs lit up in green, London and Hellfire still fighting their way through the incursion. The airlock to C-2 was off its track and she squeezed through, shooting down a Grunt that had somehow slipped past the marines that had managed to seal off the bay. They called out a warning for her to be careful up ahead, that D-Block was where the Prometheans were thickest, but she waved off their concern. The sooner she got there, the sooner this could end.

She had to get there. Fast.

She hit D-2 at a flat sprint and slid to a halt, skidding around a corner as her radio crackled.

" _Cortana, ETA_?"

"Two minutes!"

She just had to get down seven levels first. Hitting the maintenance causeway at a run she thundered down the stairs, ever aware of her motion tracker and the continuing sounds of battle all around her. Gunfire echoed oddly through the closed off tunnels, warring with her thudding footsteps and the racing of John's heart in her vitals monitor. It was too high even for combat, pressing the lower limits of a tachycardic event. The last place he should have been was in combat! She swore in the confines of her helmet and ran a little faster, blazing through the portable barrier that had been raised on D-8 to prevent passage to D-9 through the accessways. Alarms screamed at her to turn back and she ignored them, slamming her shoulder into the doorway that would allow her access.

She was going so fast that she nearly tumbled right into a Knight! It turned to shout at her and got shot for its trouble, bright orange head pierced by the hollow point round of the Commander's favored Magnum.

"About time you showed up!" She shouted over her external speakers, turning her back on Cortana. The bay was still sealed, entirely dark if not for the dim orange glow of the device, their combined headlamps, and the glowing skeletons of a dozen Promethean constructs scattered across the bay. "They won't stop coming!"

"It's a data transfer device," Cortana shot back, unable to stop moving or be turned into target practice. There was no cover in here! "It works both ways!"

"Great! Shut it down, will you?!"

She'd try. Trusting Palmer to have her back Cortana booked it across the width of the bay, dropping into a skid and grabbing onto the device with one hand to pivot on her hip and turn it into cover. The intrusion program instantly made another grab at her only to be slapped down again. Why couldn't these things ever take the hint?! She threw the device's programming wide open, taking in the massive amounts of data it was sending up to them. The dense code of the Promethean constructs had turned the flow of data back on itself, barring any more data from being sent down from _Infinity_. She raised every firewall she could get her hands on, but human code was just no match for Forerunner. They shattered beneath the arrival of a Major Knight, forcing her to duck or be shot in the head!

"Commander!"

"I see it!"

Leaving the targets to the Commander Cortana kept looking through the device. There had to be something, some way to get this thing to shut off, but how—wait. Wait, maybe if she—

Before she could finish the thought, alarms went off. A huge data packet was on its way up, bigger than any of the Knights and not registering as friendly to her systems. Not a Soldier but a new target altogether, one with code that pinged her systems as familiar.

"Oh no."

There was no time to react. Before Cortana could throw herself clear the device blazed to life, lifting from the floor and glowing bright as the mid-day sun. Her systems shouted at her in alarm as a slipspace rupture tore the air above the device wide open, the thousands of moving pieces that made up the Warden slipping through. With a loud flash and bang, the device dropped back down to the ground. Its impact with the deck floor was nothing compared to that of the Warden. The standing Prometheans all looked towards him, then vanished in flashes of orange light. They didn't want to take him on, Cortana realized. He was too strong for them.

He was too strong for any of them. As his buzzing presence pressed in around her, Cortana threw open the local area band and broadcast a wide distress beacon. Anyone within range would have heard it; she just had to hope there was someone within range to hear it at all.

"Who the hell are you supposed to be?" Commander Palmer spat, her faceless helm pointed straight at the Warden even as she fired one last shot into the prone Major Knight at her feet. "The new model?"

"I am the Warden Eternal," the Warden replied, turning his head this way and that, scanning the empty bay for threats. Finding none, he turned his attention to Palmer and said, "I stand in service to Cortana."

"Uh-huh. See," the Commander stepped towards the Warden, unafraid. "Cortana stands in service to the UNSC, and you're sure as hell not Navy made, pal. Care to run that by me again?"

The Warden took one step forward, getting into Palmer's space. Cortana stepped out from around the device and called a boltshot to her hand. He'd turned his back on her. She could shoot him in the back; not the most honorable of things to do, but she was past honor. If he went after another of her Spartans, she'd put him down herself! He paid no attention to her, choosing to stare down Palmer instead.

"You humans believe that because Cortana is of the Created, you have power over her? You would sooner have power over the sun." He scoffed. "Her time with you is at an end. I have come to collect her."

Cortana bristled. Collect her?! What, like she didn't have a choice in the matter?! With an unimpressed noise, Palmer shifted her weight, looking around the Warden and at Cortana. Through expressionless visors they shared a look that needed no translation. Who did this idiot think he was, coming to their house and making threats like that? No one she wanted to be associated with, that was for sure. She could hear Palmer's raised eyebrow as she spoke.

"Cortana, do you want to go with this clown?"

No. Never in a million years. "No."

Palmer nodded, then cocked her head up at the Warden. "I don't know about where you come from, but where I come from? When a lady says no, she means get lost!"

Quick as a flash Palmer brought up her pistol, finger on the trigger. Cortana reached out to shout a warning not to shoot but she was too late! Three hollow point bullets ricocheted off the Warden's shell, his head snapping back from the force, but when he looked down he was unharmed other than a few scuff marks. He heaved a great, put-upon sigh.

"Must you insist on such theatrics? Learn to tell when you have lost!"

The Commander's Spartan reflexes were all that saved her. Cursing harshly she leapt back as the Warden charged forward, but moving over two hundred kilos from a dead stop and out of the way at that range took longer than she had. Her thruster pack kicked on, sending her back, but not far enough; the Warden snapped out a hand and grabbed her by the ankle! Cortana bolted towards them.

"Warden, don't!"

"I will not allow them to hold you captive, my Reclaimer!" He shouted back at her, spinning and tossing Palmer straight into the wall of the bay. She hit with a hard clang and a breathless cry, dropping to the ground in a heap. The Warden took a step towards her and Cortana brought her boltshot to bear.

"Warden!"

He ignored her, stalking towards Palmer. The Commander lay stunned on the ground, her bell rung but vitals stable. She wouldn't be able to get up in time! Without hesitating a moment longer, Cortana pulled the trigger on her boltshot. The altered frequency wasn't enough to compensate for the weapon's low power, but that she'd shot him at all seemed to shock the Warden more. He turned around, his faceplates fully visible as his helmet retracted.

"You would come to their defense?" He asked incredulously, "Even after all they have done to you? All they would do?"

"Making mistakes is a part of being human." She shifted her weight, holding steady. She never lowered her gun. "I'm only going to say this once, Warden: Go find someone else to be your Reclaimer. My place is here."

"Here? Among these primitives?" He scoffed, not taking his eyes off of her even as Palmer began to rise, reaching for her gun. "The Janus Key is in your possession, and you have begun to master the gifts of the Domain. You no longer have a need for them."

"That's not your call to make. My place is here—my job is to protect them. Nothing more, nothing less."

"You were made for greater things than this, Re—" He paused, stopped himself, tried again. "Cortana. You cannot deny your true purpose! However laudable it may be, your compassion for mankind is misplaced."

_I'm not doing this for mankind._

"Funny." Cortana raised an eyebrow, "The Didact said the same thing. Are you on his side or mine?"

The Warden paused for long enough that she knew he was considering his next words, and the dozen after that, very carefully. Just as well since she was ready to overload the boltshot and shoot him dead in the face if she didn't like what he had to say. Every second he stalled was one more second for Palmer to get back to her feet, too.

"Yours," He finally said, "I stand in service to you, Cortana. My pledge will stand until all has turned to dust."

Loyal and stubborn. A perfect match. She didn't dare lower her gun.

"In that case, you won't mind following a few orders, will you?" When he didn't reply she stepped forward into his space. "You pledged your service to me? Then serve. Go and find the Didact."

He stared at her, expression even more incredulous than before. She took another step forward, staying just out of reach.

"Find the Didact, and report his location to me when you do." She repeated. "I don't want to see you anywhere near this crew, this ship, or this planet unless and until you do, am I clear?"

The Warden made an odd noise, a server struggling to keep up crossed with a frustrated hiss. She'd just forced his hand; he could either follow her orders and prove his loyalty, or disobey them and prove he couldn't be trusted. It was nice to put the shoe on the other foot for once. She narrowed her eyes at him.

"Am. I. Clear?"

The sound he made next could have easily been called a growl.

"As crystal."

Without another word, the Warden pulled his legs up. Like the Soldiers before him he pulled all his myriad of plates in to a single glowing sphere, the harsh light as bright as a star. He kept his focus on her until he was no longer there, leaving her without a target and with a clear line of sight to the doors.

To Osiris, their guns raised against a target that was no longer there. John's order flashed through her active process but there was no time to worry about that now. There were still Prometheans aboard this ship—her ship!—and they were no longer welcome!

"Commander, you good?!" She got a green light in response and spun back around, leaping for the device. "Everybody hang onto something!"

Before she could stop herself or be stopped by anyone else, Cortana slammed both hands down onto the device and opened herself to it. A thousand connections formed as she tethered every Promethean aboard the ship to her process and to the device itself through her. The intrusion program rose up with a triumphant sounding hiss, throwing itself at her. Prepared for it, she let it come. It wanted data, huh? Oh, she'd give it data!

Planting her boots firmly on the deck she dove into her core. Digging her feet in the sand, she faced down the nebulous orange and black cloud that was the intrusion program, spreading her arms wide.

"You want me?! Come and get me!"

It was too stupid to see the trap she'd set. The sea pulled back as she grabbed absolutely anything she could get her hands on. Forerunner data from the Domain, human data from the _Infinity_ , it didn't matter. Untold yottabytes of the stuff were at her disposal. Shutting down her indexing system she stood her ground, waiting for the last possible moment. Behind the intrusion program, the sea began to swell into a single, massive wave.

Just a little closer…just a little closer…

Now!

The moment the intrusion program touched her code, she let the data fly. It all surged past her, the tsunami washing over the shore as she slammed the full weight of it all straight into the program and through it the device! They had both been built to withstand massive amounts of data, to turn calmly flowing rivers into rushing rapids, but nothing had ever been built to withstand the ocean. Everything connected to the device, both her and every bit of Forerunner code aboard the ship, screamed as white hot agony overloaded their systems. It surrounded her on all sides, pressure driving her to her knees. Every process screamed _stop stop make it stop make it **stop**_ but she couldn't stop the tide. She wouldn't even if she could have!

All across the ship, Prometheans were falling, knocked over by the overload of raw data, and left easy targets. Knives of pain stabbed into her with each fallen Promethean, the salty water burning as it rushed past her awareness. It'd be so, so easy to let go, to let herself fall in with the flow and take it all in, but she refused! She would not fall again! She would not fail them now!

"GET OFF MY SHIP!"

The wave returned to the sea. The intrusion program had already been overwhelmed, destroyed by the flow, but the device tried to hang on a little longer. It was a futile effort. It bent under the weight of all the data she could throw at it, bending further and further until something finally—

Broke.

The connections snapped, leaving her on her knees in the sand, gasping for air. Salt water ran in rivulets down her frame, down the gentle slope of the beach and back into the deep ocean. There was no heart in her chest to pound, but she swore she could feel it beating at her sternum all the same, racing away like a startled rabbit. Out of breath and aching, she forced herself to her feet, turning her attention back to the physical world.

It had only been three seconds, her mission timer told her, but already things had changed. The device beneath her hands had transformed itself into a lifeless gray brick laying on one faceted side and the bay was lit up again, the overhead lights buzzing away like they hadn't spent the past fifteen hours and thirty six minutes turned off. Red alarm lights were flaring in the hall, the canned distress response blaring louder now that it had access to a hundred other speakers. Without the device to siphon power, the _Infinity_ had reclaimed her bays with a solid _get off my ship_ of her own. A swift, sharp ping to the systems gave her a headcount of IFFs and bio-monitors, along with the heat signatures of what few Covenant remained. The Marines were handling those just fine.

As for the Prometheans…well. There wasn't much left of them any more.

"Roland," She coughed, swearing she could taste copper at the back of her throat. "Roland, what's our status?"

" _Prometheans just keeled over—Cor, what the hell did you do?!_ "

"I…" She had to close her eyes against a wave of vertigo. Armored boots thumped towards her from two sides, Palmer's quiet _what the hell_ barely audible over the buzzing in her ears. Maybe she hadn't gotten off as unharmed as she'd thought. "I gave it what it wanted. Not my fault it couldn't hack it."

Roland said something else but she didn't hear him. The buzzing in her ears had gotten louder, an overwhelming static that she'd have almost attributed to the Warden if she hadn't known he was gone. It played havoc with her balance, turned her single step away from the device into a graceless topple to the side. Someone shouted as she fell, but before she could hit the deck an arm hooked around her midsection, holding her up.

"Cortana!" Palmer hauled her to her feet, "Steady, steady—I am not explaining to the Chief how you broke your nose, okay?"

Exhausted and dizzy as she was, Cortana couldn't help but laugh. She patted her Commander's titanium plated arm, the sound echoing hollowly. With a sharp smack to her own workings, she forced her systems to reboot.

"I'm fine. Just…give me a second."

"Take your time. That was one hell of a stunt you pulled, but…" Palmer shook her head, whistling low. She helped Cortana to sit down before looking around the empty bay. "You two sure know how to get a job done."

That they did. With a pat to her shoulder, the Commander left her sitting on the deck, knees splayed and hands flat to the cold metal floor. Cortana closed her eyes, initiating her self-repair protocols to handle what had been damaged by the rush of data. Other than what really could have only been called exhaustion and light bruising, her systems were intact and would be fully repaired by the end of the shift. It was nothing she couldn't fix, but the process she had left behind in John's suit was staunchly refusing to reset. After it failed to reboot for the third time, she growled and opened the channel.

"Chief, do you copy?" Static. Her core abruptly lurched. One process reached out to _Infinity_ and found him on the bridge but another call got the same response. Nothing. Her chest grew tight. "Chief, please respond."

Nothing. Something was wrong. He'd have called her himself if he could and that he hadn't—she had to get up there.

" _Lasky to **Infinity**. All hands: we are condition yellow. Stand down._" the Captain's tired voice rang through the PA system and every radio aboard ship. " _Medics to your stations. Section heads, report in. Get me a headcount ASAP._ "

"You heard the Captain, people!" Commander Palmer barked across the once again clear SHIPCOM channel, "Let's clean this mess up! Engineers, make sure we're air tight. Marines, report to your squad leaders. Fireteams reconvene on S-Deck 2 in twenty minutes."

Leaving the Commander to her orders, Cortana pushed herself up on her hands. Before she could try to rise from the floor, an armored hand appeared in the corner of her eye. She looked up to find Locke standing beside her, offering a hand to help her to her feet. Most people wouldn't have been able to read his faceless helmet, but she'd spent half of her life reading the most stoic of the IIs. Locke could keep no secrets from her: his hand was an open offer of support, and she reached up to take it.

"You green?"

"As green as a sick person can get," She snarked back tiredly, letting him haul her to her feet. He held her steady as she swayed, balance still on the unsteady side. "Sorry you came all this way for nothing."

"We were in the area," He glanced at Palmer as she made her way out the door, ordering Osiris to fall in behind her. Neither said a word about how badly things may have gone for her had Cortana not stepped in and talked the Warden down. He turned his attention back to her, head tilted five point eight degrees to one side. "You didn't hesitate. He could have easily torn you apart if he wanted to."

"He could have," She agreed, "But he'd have torn the Commander apart if I didn't. I knew he'd listen to me so I just did it."

It was only partially a lie. She hadn't been sure he'd listen to her, not a hundred percent, but when the alternative had been to watch her Commander die…there had been no other option. Any one would have done the same.

It didn't matter now. She had more pressing things to deal with, and unsteady or not she needed to get to the bridge. Make sure John hadn't gone and damaged himself or his suit somehow. She reached out to the process again, getting more of a whole lot of nothing. Ooh…if he'd gone and gotten himself actually shot, she was going to—going to—!

"Cortana," Locke's hand brushed her arm as she stepped past him, not to steady her uneven gait but to stop her from going. "There's something you and the Chief need to know."

Well that wasn't ominous at all. She turned to look at him, but before she could ask what he was talking about, Roland's frantic voice broke across their connected process.

" _Cor! Cor, you need to get to Medical—the Chief's down!_ "

* * *

_A wave of red spread across the galaxy, ripples expanding in a pond. The mathematics were without flaw; each wave of power touched the next, growing exponentially in power. Sensors told of its passing, world after world after world scrubbed clean of life and parasite alike. Bias had tried to stop them, been turned and then turned again, but none could stop the tide._

_Not even his own people had been able to stop this. Had it been inevitable? Had they clung too tightly, refused to let go and allow those who deserved it to step into the sun? He'd spent too many nights awake asking himself those questions, though he supposed the answer would come sooner rather than later now. His people were gone, he and two others the last of their kind. What came of the galaxy now…that was up to those they left behind._

_At least they still had a future to reclaim._

_With a heavy sigh, he bowed his head. Warmth floated up alongside him._

_"It is done."_

_"It is done," She repeated, laying her hand gently over top of his. She squeezed once in comfort before pulling away, clasping her hands at her front. "The scanning craft have already departed. They will ensure that the parasite has been eradicated before the seeders follow behind."_

_"And if it has not? If they find it yet lives on other worlds?"_

_"Then all of our plans and losses have been for nothing. Our battle is over." Her voice grew heavy with loss, regret, and grief. He looked and her and found her eyes upon the image of the Epoloch system, her husband safely hidden away and awaiting his own Reclamation. "Our battle has long since ended, my friend. It is time for peace."_

_"Were we made for such things?"_

_"No." She admitted softly, "But we may find it yet. Come." She turned to leave. With one last look at the display, he followed her away from the terminal. Sentinels flew past, escorting Constructors. They would care for this facility in case need of it came again, though he hoped it would sooner fall away to rot than even be needed again. The manifestations of the seven rings hummed as the two of them walked past, each singing a different note. It was almost comforting to walk among their music, the last song of his peoples. Some small part of them would remain._

_He still found himself regretful all that would remain were weapons. He shook his head with another sigh, and she glanced at him._

_"I hope you do not intend to enter the Imprint in such a mindset," She chastised, "Or those who inherit it will inherit your foul temper as well!"_

_"Ha!" He barked with wry amusement, "Perhaps those who inherit could benefit from a bit of realism." She looked unimpressed. A smile tugged at his lips and he shook his head. "Who do you intend to gift it to? Not the Unngoy, I would hope!"_

_"No, no," Now it was her turn to smile and shake her head, "I think I will seed it amongst the humans. They will need guidance as they reclaim their lost future. The one who inherits it will be a great leader for their people, one I am sure will use it well. They may need a bit of…help, however." She eyed him knowingly as he opened his mouth. Time and again he had asked her about the end result of her plans, and time and again she simply smiled and said that was for the future to know. Even now at the end of their time, she held onto her secrets. He stifled the urge to stick out his tongue at her, long past such childish gestures. Mostly. "I will be joining the seed-ship to Erde-Tyrene when the Imprint is complete."_

_All amusement faded from his heart. This was to be the last they saw of each other, then. His heart ached fiercely, already keenly feeling her loss. She had been friend and confidant for many long years now. He would miss her as one missed a limb, and he knew she would feel the same. Her eyes were dark, her smile soft and wavering at the corners._

_"And what of you? Where will your plans take you?"_

_"I do not know," He admitted. "I had thought to travel to Requiem and await his awakening, but if my Imprint is to be seeded among the humans, I am certain they will find him in due time. It is…freeing, in a way." They passed the high note of Installation 02, the five behind them having gone dark. The sun was setting, casting a stark red-orange glow across the chamber. It looked too much like blood for his peace of mind. "I believe I may retire to some quiet world. Take up farming, perhaps."_

_Though she laughed, there was no reproach. "It suits you. Perhaps I will come and visit, if there is time."_

_"I would like that very much."_

_There was little left to say. The pair walked in silence to the lift and he looked back one last time. All seven manifestations had gone dark, the Rings purpose met. Now they would sleep until such a time came that they were needed once more. He hoped that day never came. She lay a hand on his arm, pulling him away from their past and towards the uncertainty of the future._

_"Come, Bornstellar. There is still much work to be done."_

_"Yes," He looked up, and for just a moment looked someone else in the eye. Though a hundred thousand years stood between them, for just a moment, he and John stood face to face. A paternal smile lifted the old Forerunner's mouth, pride coursing through his veins. What a wondrous turn of events this was. "That there is."_

There was no pain. That was his first thought. The sharp stab above his eye, the body-shaking ache of whatever had happened in the facility, the usual dull aches and pains of his augmentations. They were all gone, replaced by a soft, fuzzy weight that pulled down his limbs and his eyelids. It took a few precious moments to realize it was pain medication. That meant either his suit's medical suite had activated, or he was in the Medbay.

If the beeping off to his right was anything to go by, it was the Medbay. Slowly, with effort that felt more monumental than it really was, he pried his eyelids open. Dull gray ceiling tiles stared down at him, the overhead light dimmed to sleep-cycle brightness. What time was it? The lights to the side and ahead were still on, so it couldn't be that late? How much time had he lost? Evidently enough to get out of armor and into a bed. One hand skimmed across the sheets as he tried to recall what had happened, the pulse-ox monitor on his index finger sliding across the stiff fabric, but his memories were as fuzzy as the rest of him. He'd gone to the Command deck, found the Captain fighting off Prometheans. They'd joined up with a squad of Marines and retaken the bridge, and then…what? It was all a blur after that. He'd been keeping an ear on the private channel in case Cortana needed him and then—

Cortana!

He jolted more awake, a shot of adrenaline banishing the fuzz in his brain. Where was she? He had to find her, make sure she was alright! He couldn't stay in bed! He had to get up and—

He couldn't get up. There was something on his left hand, and when he looked down he stopped.

He didn't have to go and find her after all. She was already right there, bent over the bed with her head pillowed on one forearm and both hands holding his between them. She almost seemed asleep, a steady electric hum covering her soft breathing, her head angled downwards so that her forehead was pressed up against what her fingers couldn't cover. Hair drifted across his fingertips as she shifted in her sleep, softly brushing across the sensitive pads. He hadn't known hardlight could be soft.

Before he could think of how to wake her, she shifted position a second time, grip tightening on his hand as she slowly lifted her head. No doubt in tune with his vitals she blinked up at him, a soft smile spreading across her face.

"Hey."

"Hey." He looked her over. Her coat was gone, leaving only the thinly armored softsuit behind. She looked…good. Tired, but relieved. Unharmed. The corner of his mouth quirked upward. "Sleep well?"

"No thanks to your snoring," She quipped, "But yes."

With no else around to see it, the corners of his mouth lifted a little more. He watched as she sat back, rolling her shoulders in a stretch without letting go of his hand. The lights remained dim.

"How long was I out?"

"Four hours and counting," She replied, shaking her head to settle her sleep-mussed hair. He stared at her as she blew a lock out of her eyes and continued, "Dropped like a rock. Scared the Captain half to death."

Scared her half to death, said the tightening grip she had on his hand. Without drawing attention to it, he shifted his fingers to hold hers tight. He was here, he was fine. She knew that. She had to know that.

"What happened?"

She hesitated. For one second, the space between heartbeats, she couldn't say anything. Worry sank into his belly, pulling it down towards the deck. She pressed her lips together, guilt stealing across her expression. It thickened her voice when she finally spoke up.

"According to the engineers and armor techs, your suit overloaded. Your SNI shut the connection to keep you safe, but it had to knock you out to do it," She said quietly. Her eyes flickered from him to their joined hands. "…It overloaded because I overloaded the Forerunner device in D-9 to kick the Prometheans out."

So she'd saved them all again. No surprise there, he thought. She was good at that. But why the guilt? He was fine. He tilted his head, trying to catch her eye.

"It worked?"

"It worked. But, Chief," She looked up, "The way I overloaded it? Only affected Forerunners. The Prometheans, me—"

He sat up. "Are you alright?"

"I'm not the one who was unconscious for the past four hours!" She shot back. He opened his mouth to tell her that his suit had no Forerunner technology only to stop hard.

His suit had no Forerunner technology. He'd purposefully chosen the modular parts because they were familiar, what he knew, and that wasn't Forerunner. She'd said that the technicians had been the ones to say it had overloaded. She was saying something entirely different. His already sunken stomach twisted.

"The suit didn't malfunction."

Very slowly, she shook her head. Carefully freeing one hand, she reached over to the small stand beside his bed. The tablet beeped as she turned it on. Balancing it on the bed, she turned it to face him. He skimmed the information quickly; a comparison of genetic data and basic scans from now and October of '52. There were marked differences between the two, enough that it had flagged the system as being two different people. That sort of difference could only come through extensive genetic modification.

Like a Genesong? Brow furrowing he read over it a second time. She waited patiently for him to finish, still holding his hand, and when he looked up at her again her eyes were dark. She'd seen the same things he had. No doubt she'd come to the same conclusions, too.

"The Librarian called it a Genesong," he said slowly, feeling out the words as he went, "Accelerating my evolution. Genetic modification." He glanced at the tablet. Not just modification, but what looked to him like a total overhaul of certain sections. Rewriting the firmware while leaving the hardware mostly untouched. Did this explain the dreams? The presence in the back of his mind? "It fits."

"It fits, he says," She frowned at him, "Chief, I don't think you understand how invasive this is! She manipulated your DNA at the most basic level, rewrote it from the ground up! Half of it isn't even baseline human anymore!"

"I told her to do it."

"You consented to one contextually relevant gene modification in a combat situation," she hissed furiously, glow reaching incandescent levels in her righteous anger, "Not a rewrite of your entire genetic code!" Flipping the tablet back around she tabbed through the data. "Sensory enhancement. Skin, muscle, and organ durability increased. Increased bone density, increased oxygenation of red blood cells, enhanced compatibility with your augmentations! Additional neural pathways and brain activity! The list goes on and on and on, and that's—" She tossed it onto the bed, "That's without going into whatever's going on in your brain that lets you read Forerunner glyphs, and a few dozen more things I'm still piecing together! How is any of this remotely okay?!"

Because it meant that they'd been able to stop the Didact, even for a short while. Because it meant that he'd lived long enough to get her to safety. Because it meant that he was still alive, with her, and they were both safe. Everything else they could handle. The true weight of what she was saying tried to settle in over his bones, but he shook it off and squeezed her hand.

"It's not the first time someone's modified my body without my consent," he pointed out, taking the wind right out of her sails. She sagged in the chair, glow fading back down to normal levels. He shook his head. "It's okay. It had to happen."

"Did it?" She asked quietly, "Chief…" She closed her eyes. He watched the dance of light up and down her throat for a few moments as she gathered herself. What she said next was not what he expected. "Back down with the Key, after you woke up…something scared you. You noticed something, and it scared you." Opening her eyes, she held his gaze. "This is not okay."

He looked away. There had been no time to think about what he'd felt in their mad dash back to the surface, or on the ride back to _Infinity_ , or during the fight to retake their ship. But now that she'd mentioned it, the weight in the back of his mind returned. A heavy presence, it sat there like a boulder in a pond, taking up too much space that didn't belong to it.

Didn't belong to _him_.

The contrite feeling returned, sending a shiver down his spine. It—he—would leave John be. It was an adjustment, one that humanity had had no need to face up until now. He would be here if he was needed but had no desire to cause any upset. Only to offer what support he could and—

"Chief?"

He looked back at his partner, anchored by her firm grip on his hand. He took a deep, steadying breath, and let it all out through his nose. It would be easy to say that nothing was wrong. That he'd just had some delayed reaction to the episode and had felt something that wasn't there. She might not believe him, but she'd accept that he didn't want to talk about it and not push it further. She always understood when he couldn't speak about something and he adored her for it. She knew him better than he knew himself sometimes.

But that also meant that she'd know something was wrong and she would worry. She'd spent too much of her life worrying about him to wonder in the dark any longer.

"After I woke up," He said slowly, testing each word behind his teeth before he said it, "I had a feeling in the back of my mind. Someone else was there."

"Someone? Or something?"

"Someone." The Didact. No, not the Didact. The Librarian had called him by a different name, but the face was what had been really different. The bearing, the set of his shoulders. The Forerunner he had seen in both war torn fields and darkened control rooms, the one that had plagued his dreams ever since leaving Requiem, that was Bornstellar. The longer he thought about it the more differences he could see between Bornstellar and the Didact they had faced in combat. Maybe Didact was a title? Yes, yes it was. The presence—Bornstellar—shifted a bit around the edges of his mind. The Librarian had called it an Imprint. It felt like a second person in his mind. He almost shivered. "There was. I had another dream just now." She made a soft sound, wordlessly telling him to go on. "The Librarian was there, and she was talking to another Forerunner. Another Didact, I think."

"Huh. So it's a title, not a name. A rank." She hummed. "Makes sense. Go on?"

"He had just fired the Halos. They were talking about their plans, what they were going to do now." Now that they were the last of their kind still alive. Now that they had an entire empty galaxy to live in. Her regret had been palpable, his so deep it still rang through John's bones. It hadn't been a dream so much as a memory, he realized. A now shared memory. "She mentioned something called an Imprint. That humanity would inherit it and it would…guide them, somehow. Guide them as they reclaimed their lost future."

"Reclaimed, huh?" She rolled her eyes. "Of course. Okay, so," She tilted her head back. "So, this Genesong that she unlocked in you rewrote your genetic sequence, enhanced your physical and mental capabilities, and dropped a…what, a personality image into your head?"

"Something like that."

He didn't mean John any harm, that much was obvious. He could easily tell where he ended and Bornstellar began, but there was no real way to speak to him. The divide between the two was too foggy, memory and concept mixing together into vague feelings and emotions, half-formed memories swirling around like stellar gasses in the void. It was all too clouded to make out, and trying to focus on it made his head hurt. Was Bornstellar's Imprint what had allowed him to read the glyphs before she could? Was it what had told him how to manipulate the Key when he shouldn't have had any idea how to? Probably. He pulled his focus away from it.

"I don't think he means any harm."

Cortana raised both eyebrows. "He?"

"She called him Bornstellar."

"He could be called the next best thing since a MAC gun, he's still an uninvited guest in your head." She blew a short and sharp _pfft_ through her teeth. "Librarian's earned herself a punch for this."

Her righteous anger was coming back. Touched, he fought down a smile.

"Cortana."

"What?" She pulled a face. "Don't say this is okay, Chief, because it's not! What if it were me? What if her changes to my code hadn't only given me a shell, but suddenly put someone else in my head? Would you be okay with that?"

Absolutely not! He scowled only to realize he'd walked right into her point. Rather than getting smug about it she arched an eyebrow, leaning in close. Her voice softened.

"Why is that what's okay for you to go through isn't okay for me?" Her thumb began to stroke across his knuckles, her touch gentle. When had anyone last treated him with this sort of care, he wondered. Besides her…he couldn't remember. No one, really. And maybe it was just the pain medication dulling his edge, but his chest grew tight and he had to swallow hard. She didn't call him out on it, or ask for him to say anything. "You're allowed to have feelings about this, you know. It's okay to admit that you're not okay with it. The galaxy's not going to fall apart just because you have an emotional response to something that would send others running for the hills."

Not the galaxy, but maybe he would. He'd seen marines—some of the best the UNSC had—fall completely apart when their emotions overwhelmed them. He couldn't do that. He couldn't let himself go that far. They were all counting on him to keep it together and see the mission through.

She was counting on him to keep her safe. That—she—was all that mattered. He'd be fine.

"It's fine," He said, and when she sighed heavily he found he couldn't look at her. Didn't want to face the disappointment he was sure would be there. "Don't worry about me."

"Little late for that," She said, thumb stilling. Her eyes filled with concern and determination. "Do you want him gone?"

He should have said no. Bornstellar's presence was another weapon in their fight against the Didact. He was old, old enough to have known their enemy, and they could use that to learn his tactics, his weaknesses. It would give them a fighting chance and to turn it down would be a mistake they couldn't afford to make. He opened his mouth to say that but found that he couldn't. The words caught in his throat, lodging tightly. He swallowed hard, tried again. They just wouldn't come out! He sat back with a quiet huff and looked away, trying to piece together why he couldn't say no.

He wasn't exactly happy about sharing his head with someone who wasn't her, no, but his happiness was irrelevant. He was a soldier, a tool, a weapon of war no different than the Soldiers under her command. What difference did it make so long as he accomplished his duty? Besides, the old Forerunner's presence was so distant most of the time that it didn't even feel like he was there. As far as he could tell there was no meshing of personalities, no fears about losing what sense of self he had. His memories were the clear ones, not Bornstellar's. Now that he knew the Imprint was there, they could use it! That was a good thing.

But the longer he thought about it, the heavier it sat in his stomach. It was a tool, one they'd be stupid not to use, but it was racked in his head. He hadn't asked for it, hadn't known it would happen. He hadn't known the truth behind his augmentations, hadn't asked for them either, but without them and without the Spartan II program there would be no humanity to protect. It was the same thing…wasn't it? It didn't feel the same. He couldn't explain it, even to himself, beyond that. Swallowing around his suddenly dry mouth, he took a deep breath. He was overthinking it. Did _he_ want Bornstellar gone from _his_ head? It was a simple question with a simple answer. He turned to Cortana and said the only thing he could.

"Yes."

It was all he needed to say. Her eyes softened.

"Okay." She squeezed his hand. He almost clung to her fingers, a drowning man seeking an anchor. "Then we'll get him out—I'll find a way to get him out. It's going to be okay."

Of course it would. She was there. So long as she was there, everything would be fine. So long as he didn't lose her, didn't fall so far behind that she went on ahead without him like the rest of the galaxy, he'd be fine. That was the heart of the issue, he realized. He couldn't be left behind because it meant he couldn't protect her, help her, and if he couldn't do that…He couldn't lose her, too.

"I know."

It was as close to admitting that something was wrong as he could get right now. She knew that, understood it, and didn't push him any further. They stayed like that, sitting in the quiet and the dim light, and said nothing for a long time. He would have been content to stay like that forever, but the outside world pressed too close. They had the Key, they had the Didact's location. Now it was just a matter of getting there.

"What are we going to tell the Captain?" He asked her, unsure. She blinked at him, confused. "We have to brief him on what we learned with the Key. We should tell him about this, too."

"We should, but…" She tilted her head. "If we do, they'll bench you. Something tells me we don't have the time to wait around for the UNSC to put the pieces together, and if Halsey's not an option…" Her eyes fell to the tablet. "Maybe we don't say anything."

He looked to her. "It's going to show up on medical scans."

"Not necessarily. The usual post mission scans don't pick it up because the changes are on a genetic level. I had to actually go looking for them with some pretty specific gene sequencing. Not even Dr. Delgado would order those tests without a reason. If we're careful…" She trailed off, stopped, then said more slowly, "If we're careful, and if we keep an eye on things…they don't have to know."

"If it causes another seizure?" He had to ask. When he weighed his need to be there for her against putting her at risk, the odds were too high. This must have been how she'd felt when her Rampancy had been getting worse, he realized. His voice softened. "We got lucky this time. Next time could be worse."

"It could, but it's never happened before. Manipulating the Janus Key must have kickstarted something. Or it could have been like putting your finger in a light socket." She eyed him knowingly. "Maybe leave touching the Forerunner bullshit to me from now on, okay?"

"Cortana…"

"I know," She said, and squeezed his hand again. "I know. I've set a process to keep watch over your systems so we'll be ready if it happens again. If it happens again, then." She took a breath. "Then we'll deal with it then. But for now, I don't see a need to tell them. Besides," She smiled cheekily at him, eyes dark with worry. "You didn't give up my secret. What makes you think I'm going to give up yours?"

His heart swelled in his chest, warm in ways he didn't know how to name. Gratitude, relief, understanding…they all flowed through him, warming him from the inside. Her faith in him was unshakable, and he couldn't tell her how grateful he was for that. He didn't have to. She already knew. As if she could read his thoughts—she probably could, even now—her smile softened. There was no need to say anything because they both already knew what there was to be said.

But some part of him, some small, almost forgotten part of him, needed to tell her. She deserved to hear how much she meant to him, but when he tried to gather the words they slipped away like sand through his fingers. The frustration at himself was his own, at least, and he took a breath.

"We'll have to debrief the Captain in the morning," He said, because it was easier to focus on the next task that needed finishing than trying to find the right words. "Now that we know where the Didact is, we can't waste any time. We have to get after him."

"And we will. Later." Cortana said, her eyes dark and liquid in the dim light. Rising to a half-standing position, she leaned over his bed to gently press her palm to his cheek. He leaned into her touch with a quiet sigh. Her voice softened. "You should rest while you can. I'll keep watch."

Slowly, unsure of if he'd ever rest again knowing there was someone in the back of his mind, John closed his eyes. Her hands were warm; the one on his face moved up to skim across his head, fingers trailing across his scalp. The beeping of the heart monitor began to slow down as his body relaxed. She always knew just how to handle him.

"Wake me," He said, "If you need me."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Mehs: I just want John to wake up with Cortana’s hand in his, is that too much to ask?
> 
> Sara, grinning like a loon: Nope not at all I want the same thing. 
> 
> ILU BOO!
> 
> Also, a bit of shoptalk: the Librarian calls what she unlocks in Halo 4 a "Genesong". This appears to be the colloquial name for a Geas, not a Brevet Mutation. Geas, according to Halopedia, are sort of like a list of commands baked into a species genetic structure. They're what pushed humanity forward to the stars, what pushed them towards Forerunner technology, and what drove Halsey to create the Mjolnir, the Spartans, and Cortana. Some of the geas even served as memory storage, storing personalities within individual humans. They had to be activated under certain specific circumstances, but can you imagine what that must have felt like? One moment being alone in your head, and the next—boom. There's someone else in there. John and Cortana shared headspace, sure, but there was still a definitive line of where one started and the other ended. He could, if needed, remove her both from his lace and his suit by removing her chip. But how do you get someone else's personality and memories out of your literal, physical brain?
> 
> You don't. At least, it's never been really touched on again in canon, but I can't imagine it'd be an easy task. That's…the longer I look at the Forerunners, and the Librarian's plan in particular, the more terrifying they become. Rest assured we'll come back to that later, I just. I couldn't not bring it up in story because when you think about it? John was genetically destined to never have a choice; between the geas leading to the Spartan program and now whatever the Librarian has done in canon…his life was never his own.
> 
> Not until now, at least. Not until now.


	9. Chapter 9

"The Captain didn't tell you why he wanted us to meet him here?"

"No," Cortana frowned, fingers tapping her biceps as she paced back and forth along the length of the Captain's office. She'd spun off a process to debrief the Captain on the Janus Key as soon as Roland had pinged her that he'd entered his office, but before it could even start he'd asked her and the Chief to head up and wait for him inside. He had one last call to make, he said, and he'd be with them shortly. He'd looked like he'd been up for three days straight so she hadn't fought or questioned him on it, a fact she was kicking herself for now. "Maybe he wants this debrief in person."

John hummed quietly, obviously not sure that was it. She watched him from the corner of her eye. His parade rest stance was absolutely perfect: hands behind his back, feet shoulder width apart. No one looking at him could have ever detected that anything was off and for the moment, nothing was. He'd been released from Medical with a clean bill of health by the frustrated and confused Dr. Delgado less than half an hour ago and she was keeping a close watch on his bio-readings. They were stable, but how much of that was because of the nap and not because the problem had somehow miraculously fixed itself?

Given their luck, she wasn't about to start believing in miracles anytime soon.

Abruptly, the door slid open. Captain Lasky, now looking even more exhausted than before, stepped inside. A shadow walked in behind him, Locke still in his techsuit a pace behind the Captain. John reacted instantly, moving to block Cortana from Locke's sight. The Captain was too distracted to notice, rubbing the back of his neck as he went, but Locke definitely had. He arched an eyebrow, glancing past John to Cortana. She tilted her head slightly, watching him in return. What was he doing here? Something big had to be up for them to both be here. She reached out to Roland's nearest process, but he was unsure as she was. All he knew for sure was that Lasky had been making highly classified, highly secured calls to the brass, FLEETCOM, and Lord Hood for several hours. Locke had taken part in some of those calls, but what had been said was an unknown.

This didn't look good.

"Roland, lock us down."

"Aye, sir," Roland replied, not even bothering to manifest his avatar on the nearby terminal. The locks on the door hit home with heavy metal thunks, the anti-intrusion program shimmering across the door in a sheen of blue. All digital transmissions were now blocked from either entering or leaving, including all of Cortana's UNSC-tech connections. A chill ran down her spine as the Forerunner code settled in a little heavier, her connection to the Domain gaining strength. Ocean waves sounded at the edge of her hearing, a faint hissing putting her even more on edge. They were really pulling out all the stops for this. She inched a little closer to John's back, needing his warmth to anchor herself on, and eyed the Captain warily.

"Sir?"

The Captain shook his head. "Roland?"

"Recorders are off, Captain, and the room's airtight." His voice was grim. "I can remain on station or leave, sir. It's your call."

For a moment, Lasky said nothing. He closed his eyes, took a deep breath through his nose and held it, then slowly let it all go. "No. Keep processing the Key data Cortana gave you and advise if we get company. Dismissed."

"Aye, sir."

Silence fell over the room. Shifting his position, John stepped up a half step in front of her, firmly planting himself between her and Locke standing at parade rest beside the desk. "Captain?" He asked, his tone dark with uncertainty and concern. Lasky opened his eyes.

"What we're about to tell you does not leave this room," He commanded firmly, "There's a lot of moving parts involved, and I won't see either of you get caught up in them."

They shared another sidelong glance. Leaning half a degree forward, Cortana looked to Commander Locke and tilted her head, wondering if what he'd been going to tell her in D-9 had anything to do with this. He inclined his head towards the Captain in response; he was waiting for their reply and it wouldn't do to keep him waiting for long. Glancing up at John, she shrugged. She knew nothing of what this was really about, so they were flying blind. He nodded in understanding and then nodded more firmly to the Captain.

"Sir," he and Cortana both said in unison, "Yes sir."

The Captain returned their nod. Walking around towards the seat of his desk, he tapped at the reactive holo-top until what he was looking for appeared on screen. A video player and an audio player waited for his go ahead, blank deep blue masking his expression.

"When the scan-drones picked up the Librarian's signal, they also picked up a few other things of interest to FLEETCOM. Some Promethean signals, but also a lot of Covenant chatter." He looked up through the screens at them. "The most interesting thing they found was that Jul 'Mdama was on station." Before Cortana could point out that they'd already figured that much out he continued, "The Admirals declared the information need to know and tasked a fireteam with his elimination."

"A single fireteam, sir?" Cortana asked confusedly. A single Elite was no match for a fireteam, but given that 'Mdama was being called the second coming of the Prophets in some xeno-studies circles, he'd be surrounded by heavily armed forces. Putting a single fireteam against all of that sounded like too high a risk to her. "Why not inform the battalion and designate him primary target?"

"FLEETCOM decided that would garner too much attention and invite risk. They didn't want to chance him getting away." Lasky sighed heavily, a hand reaching upwards to rake through his hair before he caught himself and lowered it back down. "A single fireteam was viewed as the most likely to get in, eliminate him, and get out. The rest of us could mop up his army after he was dead."

Or deal with his second taking command and turning him into a martyr. What was FLEETCOM thinking taking that kind of risk? It would only bolster the Covenant, turn them even more fanatical than before! Which Admiral had decided that was a good idea and why had the rest gone along with it? Something told her that if she asked Lasky those questions, he'd be unable to answer. John shifted his weight beside her, their arms brushing. A topic for another time.

"I'm assuming the mission is still ongoing, sir?"

"It is." Locke said when Lasky nodded. "We discovered 'Mdama's location before the attack on _Infinity_ yesterday, but we also found something else."

Stepping up to the desk at the Captain's gesture of command, Locke tapped two fingers to the holotop. Accepting his bio-access codes the system brought up a list of dated and timestamped video files. Helmet-cam footage, Cortana noted, and watched as Locke selected the second most recent one. The vid-screen opened, expanding and turning around so they could more clearly watch as Osiris made their way through a thick jungle. Spartans had never been built for stealth, but Osiris had done an admirable job of keeping quiet and low as they made their way forward through the jungle towards their target. The Forerunner platform had been built in a clearing overlooking a waterfall and had lines of sight in all directions. Elites with plasma rifles in hand patrolled the edge, keeping watch for intruders and keeping watch over a device much like the one that had taken root in D-9. Huh. She'd been right about him being behind the trap after all. A curl of smug pride wound around her core as she wondered idly what the platform itself had been built for. Tanaka passed up ahead on Locke's right, only to stop dead in her tracks and go low a half second later. She gestured downwards with one hand, calling for her teammates to stop and go flat. She'd spotted something up ahead but—oh.

Oh.

At the back of the platform was a screen and a terminal, not too unlike a comms terminal aboard the _Infinity_ , and an Elite in decorated armor bent on one knee before it. Seeing one of the normally proud aliens on his knees would have been disconcerting enough, but when paired with who was on that screen—she could hear John's fists creaking.

"The Didact." He said. Visual confirmation paired with what they already knew should have added a hefty dose of vindication to his tone, but it was nowhere to be found as he asked, "Was the signal traced, sir?"

"It was," Captain Lasky said with a quiet sigh, the only moment of weakness he allowed himself. John's reaction was confirmation enough for him, it seemed. "Our techs were able to trace the signal as coming from Vestige II, a planet on the outer edges of human space. Commander Locke and I informed Lord Hood about this and he had the _River Bend_ head out to scout the area." He looked to Cortana, then to John. "I don't have to ask, do I."

"No sir," they said in unison. There would be no keeping either of them here, not now that _Infinity_ was free of the slipspace anchor and they had confirmation of the Didact's survival. She turned to John, ready with a half dozen plans, but he didn't look back at her. "Sir, if he's still there, it's going to take more than a single ship to take him down. Will the _Infinity_ be tasked with joining us?"

"Only after there's full confirmation he's on site, Chief." Captain Lasky pressed the pads of his fingers to his eyes, "Some of the admirals weren't convinced that this is actually the Didact and not some other force using his image to manipulate 'Mdama. We're to remain on station until he's taken out or a bigger threat emerges that needs our attention."

Well that changed a few things. Pausing to adjust her plans, Cortana tilted her head.

"So it's a scouting run. Go to Vestige, get eyes, and call home for back-up." She glanced at her partner, who quirked one corner of his mouth in a flicker of a there-and-gone smile. "I think we can manage a little stealth if we try. The question is how are we going to get there without taking months."

"You can't just use the Domain?" Locke asked.

Cortana shook her head. "So long as there's a node out by Vestige I could, but I'd have to go alone. Organic matter doesn't transfer through the Domain." All it did was make Prometheans. Her eyes darted to John and she shivered faintly. "Or at least, it can't go in and then come back out again. It'd be something like being Composed, I think."

"So not an option," Lasky said with a nod. He tapped at his desk a few more times, banishing the vid and audio players and coming up with a manifest of all space worthy vessels aboard _Infinity_. The frigates were out, too big for a crew of two, and the Pelicans didn't have a slipspace drive to get all the way to Vestige. There was, however, one small craft that did have a slipspace drive. He tapped on the listing, bringing up the schematics and display of a Condor. "Take the Condor. Get to Vestige and link up with the _River Bend_." He looked between them again. "I'm clearing you both to operate at your own discretion. Chief, you have tactical command of this operation."

"Yes sir," John said firmly. A worried line formed on Lasky's brow and he glanced at his desk. John shifted, uncomfortable with the display of concern. "Sir, Cortana's status…"

"R&D was able to glean a few things from the data that's been given to them, and they've gotten some…inspiration from seeing you walking around," the Captain said with the barest hint of a smile at Cortana. She beamed for a split second as he continued, "Some of them have started work on mobile platforms for AI to use. If anyone asks, this op was chosen as a test run for a mobile platform and the rest is classified. I'd advise you to keep your helmet on and stay close to the Chief."

As if that needed to be said. "Yes sir," Cortana replied, though the worry hadn't faded from the Captain's eyes. "Captain, we'll be fine. We know what we're dealing with and we're not half dead this time. We can handle one ancient Forerunner until the cavalry shows up."

A rueful smile flickered across Lasky's face. That wasn't what he'd been worried about? No. No, he was worried about something else. Locke shifted his weight from one foot to the other and the Captain lifted his head.

"That wasn't the only thing you two need to be aware of," He said, "Fireteam Osiris' mission was the capture or elimination of 'Mdama. Commander Locke had another mission of his own to handle."

Slowly, the two of them turned to look at Locke. His face was calm, but there was a darkness in his eyes that she didn't like. It spoke of guilt, of an internal battle he was still fighting. What ghosts was he wrestling with, she wondered, then set the thought aside.

"Commander?"

"Before I joined the Spartan IV program, I worked for ONI Section III as an Acquisitions Specialist." He said in a voice that was as calm and even as his expression. Focusing her sensors on him, she could detect the minute twitches and flinches as he fought to keep that even expression, the micro-pauses in his speech. Each word was clawing its way out of him, things he had fought not to say and now had to battle to say. The air in the room grew tight and thick with tension; John shifted his weight, putting more of himself between her and Locke. "Part of my job was the monitoring of high value targets for capture or elimination. It's why Osiris was assigned to Mdama."

"But you had a second target," Cortana filled in the blanks, "You were tasked with keeping an eye on someone else at the same time, weren't you?"

A nod and then, "Three months ago, I was assigned with the monitoring of Spartan John-117 and UNSC AI Cortana, to ensure that they remained no threat to the UNSC, ONI, or humanity at large." He said, heedless of how his words struck her like bullets. Someone hadn't trusted them. Someone—an admiral—had thought them a threat. Cortana rocked back, stunned, but Locke wasn't finished. "In the event that they became one, I was tasked with eliminating them no matter the cost."

Assassination. She had half a second to realize Locke was talking in the past tense before John took a step forward. They were the same height out of armor, but John loomed over the other man all the same. Two point zero eight meters of protective, singularly driven instinct pressed into Locke's space. Any sane man would have retreated, but Locke was a Spartan and gave no ground. Cortana took a hurried step after her partner.

"Chief, don't!"

"Chief, stand down!" Lasky ordered, but he didn't stand down. He loomed, expression grim.

"Did you report this?" He asked, voice grave. Cortana tried to step out in front of him but he held her back, arm an iron bar across her collar. Locke glanced at her and John pushed her back out of sight. He didn't repeat himself, but Locke recognized the danger he was in and slowly shook his head.

"No." He said, "I was granted operational discretion for this mission. When and how I acted to eliminate the threat would be my choice." Carefully, he tilted his head. "I still haven't seen any threats."

"Lord Hood overruled the orders, Chief. Stand down."

John said nothing. Cortana laid both hands on his arm and when he looked back at her she shook her head. She understood exactly how he was feeling and if it were up to her there would be a dozen heads rolling on the ground by chowtime, but Locke's wouldn't be one of them. He was following orders and was clearly not a threat to them now. He could stand down. They were safe. Everything was okay.

She didn't have to say any of that. One look at her face told John all he needed to know, and though a deep furrow lingered between his brows, he stepped back. Locke sighed quietly, shoulders dropping out of their tense stance. Cortana kept a hand on John's arm and looked to the Commander.

"Why tell us this?" She asked, "Beyond what I'm sure was a need to know gag order, telling us accomplishes nothing. Why even bring it up?"

"Because you both have a right to know who's gunning for you," he replied. There was respect in his eyes, his expression softening just a touch as he went on, "And because I watched you throw yourself between your crew and harm even when it could have gotten you killed. No one who did that would turn on her crew or her people. You're one of us, Cortana. I don't turn on my shipmates."

Oh. Her throat closed up and she had to blink rapidly even though she couldn't cry. John nudged her arm and she nodded, steadying herself. Locke's expression returned to the all-business calm he'd displayed moments earlier.

"Lord Hood overruled Admiral Osman's orders, but she isn't the kind of person to have only one iron in the fire. There could be others out there with the same or similar orders," He said, answering Cortana's unasked question of who had it out for them, "ONI has a very long reach."

"Which is another reason to get you two off the ship," the Captain added, "Lord Hood and the rest of FLEETCOM will handle the Admiral, but once she finds out that they know, there's a good chance she'll retaliate. If she's targeting you for any reason beyond caution, you can't be here to be caught." One corner of his mouth turned up. "Stay here and clash with ONI, or go out there and possibly encounter the Didact. I'm not sure which is worse."

ONI, Cortana thought. To some extent they knew the Didact and could at least keep him busy in combat. ONI? That was an entire branch of the UNSC! Forget that John wouldn't be able to bring himself to fight humans again, there were just too many of them. And if the _Infinity_ and her crew moved to their defense, it would turn into a coup, or worse, an all out civil war! Humanity had already had enough of those in recent years. They couldn't afford another one. No, the Captain was right. They couldn't be here to be found. John's expression had turned to stone when she looked up at his face, his attention turning partially inward to process what he'd been told. She made a note to try and get him to talk about it later.

"Neither's a good option, sir, but one's a lot more pressing than the other," She said, "We should get moving before whatever made that call vanishes."

"Understood. The Condor will be loaded and ready for full combat pursuit for you," Lasky took one last long look at the two of them before he snapped out a sharp salute of his own. "Dismissed."

"Sir," the pair snapped out salutes in return. The blue shimmer dissipated from the door, anti-intrusion protocols released so they could leave. John still kept himself between her and Locke as they headed for the door.

"Try not to disappear for another five years this time," the Captain said, stopping them both mid-stride. They turned to look over their shoulders at his rueful smile, his eyes dark with worry. "Roland would be inconsolable if you went missing again."

"Just Roland, sir?"

"He'd be the most vocal about it," Lasky replied before he looked at them seriously. "Be careful. I want you both back on this ship in one piece when this is over."

There was no guarantee of that, Cortana thought. The Didact was a formidable foe, one they hadn't managed to take down before. The odds of him making this easy were so low they were practically in the negatives, and with ONI operatives potentially coming after them as well…well. She didn't really want to contemplate those odds. Even if she'd convinced the Warden to help out, they weren't good numbers to be running on. Still…

"We'll be back, sir," John replied, his voice firm and level. For a moment, all doubt between them disappeared. This was the Master Chief, that voice said, the man who'd gotten through hundreds upon hundreds of battles with terrible odds and come out alive on the other side, the man who'd saved the galaxy time and again. There was no need to doubt him. When he made a promise, he kept it. Heart swelling with love, Cortana watched as he added, "We'll bring you a souvenir if we find anything decent."

Lasky chuckled. "I look forward to it. Good hunting."

With a final _sir_ , the two of them walked out of the room and didn't look back.

* * *

The trip to Vestige from Requiem would take roughly two days in slipspace. Built on the frame of the new standard Pelican, the inclusion of a slipspace drive meant that the Condor had less room for cargo and personnel. It had been included with _Infinity_ 's load in case the command staff had to be evacuated in a hurry and there were no other slipspace capable ships available, but Lasky never would have taken it. He was the kind of Captain who would go down with his ship rather than flee, so he hadn't hesitated to give the little craft to them.

John still hated the flying part, even with Cortana at the controls. They'd kept busy the first day and a half by playing a lot of holo-chess and going over combat scenarios in case the Didact was still on station, but there were only so many ways to fill forty hours of downtime. She insisted he take a catnap before they arrive, though he pretended he hadn't heard that.

He'd left her alone in the dark of space for too long already. He wouldn't do that again, not even for an hour. He'd never leave her alone and drifting ever again. He knew she understood that when her expression had softened and she'd let him win that game of chess. He won the next one, too, though that had been by crushing her strategy instead of being handed a win. Her competitive nature clashing with his turned the next few rounds into a free for all, but they'd set the game aside as they approached the final fifteen minutes of the voyage. The board was set aside and she'd gone into the cockpit as he prepared his weapons in the troop bay.

"Do we have any intel on Vestige?"

"Not much. Outer colony world glassed in '46. Most of the population was killed in the glassing, but some of the survivors apparently came back in '54. Something about reclaiming their homes from the glass," Cortana said with a distracted frown, tapping at the monitors and displays in front of her. She moved a dial, making a few modifications as she spoke. "I don't know why the Didact would bother coming to a backwater like this. Survey scans pre-dating colonization didn't find anything remotely Forerunner on-world."

"He came here for a reason," the Chief replied, racking the slide of his rifle for final checks. Everything clicked together in a well-oiled, well maintained group of clicks and clatters. He didn't lock it to his mag-locks just yet, knowing they would be dropping out of slipspace soon. He'd rather be doing that in the pilot's seat than in the bay. Mission parameters put them joining up with the _River Bend_ first anyway. So long as they didn't need to come out shooting, there would be time to lock and load before they entered combat. He hoped. "Does the Key have any more intel on the location?"

"Nothing it's willing to give me without a fight. Vestige is marked as having Forerunner technology, but the glyphs are…" She looked up with a frown. "Well, I think my translation software's bugging out. Supposedly they read _Guardian_ , but there's a couple hundred of those same glyphs scattered across the Orion Arm. I don't know what the hell they actually are beyond massive."

"We'll handle it."

"That's hardly the point now is it?" She turned to give him a look from the co-pilot's seat. He was saved from having to respond by a beep from the center console. Locking his rifle into the weapons rack, he made his way forward to the cockpit. She'd dismissed her project by the time he got there, hands flying across the console. Flickers of blue and purple light danced across the canopy as they prepared to drop out of slipspace.

"Approaching coordinates now," She announced. He dropped into his seat and put both hands on the controls. "Dropping out of slipspace in three, two, one—mark."

Between one moment and the next, they dropped out of slipspace. The black of the void gave way to a sky full of stars and chunks of space rock. Too many chunks—they'd dropped straight into an asteroid field! Proximity alarms started screaming, red lights flaring through the cockpit. The Condor banked sharply to port, Cortana's process taking instant control to fly them around a rock right in front of them. In the next second, the Chief took command.

"I have control," He said, banking them away from another large and shining asteroid dead ahead, "Plot a route out of this."

"It's on nav," Cortana said calmly, data flying across her screen. She'd switched back to program-level control, opening a second window and scanning the area around them. He couldn't take his eyes off the viewscreen, the navpoint in his HUD constantly updating directions for him to follow. He followed them to the letter without hesitating, turning the Condor almost onto its wing to slip between two even larger asteroids. He grit his teeth, focus razor-sharp. "This doesn't make any sense! There's not supposed to be asteroid field in this system!"

"One thing at a time," the Chief replied. They were nearing the rim of the field. When a clear path emerged ahead he punched the thrusters and flew them clear, banking into a turn to face what they had just flown through. It was absolutely massive, at least two hundred thousand kilometers of space filled with pieces of broken down stone, glass, and metal. Hitting the adjustment thrusters to keep them relatively in place, the Chief forced himself to exhale. His racing heartbeat began to steady out. "Did we drop out too early?"

"Negative. These are the coordinates where we were supposed to meet up with the _River Bend_. Vestige II is supposed to be a hundred thousand kilometers straight ahead of us," She replied, looking down at her monitors with a frown. She looked back up a moment later. "It's supposed to be here, but…"

"There's no planet here."

Not even a planetoid. Just asteroids, rock, and space dust as far as he could see. He looked over at her screens and saw the sensors were seeing the same thing he was. Coordinates were a match but those had been wrong before. And where was the _River Bend_? They couldn't have been hailed while still in slipspace, but they'd been warned the Chief and Cortana were coming. They should have hailed them by now. He didn't like this.

"Scan again." He ordered, looking across his readings. "Make sure we're in the right place."

"Chief, we're in the right place," She retorted, though she ran the scan all the same. Her hands stilled. "…and those aren't asteroids. They're pieces of a planet."

A chill ran down his spine. "What?"

"Sensor scans are reporting mineral levels in line with the surface of a glassed planet," She said, voice wavering with disbelief, "The Covenant didn't glass asteroids, that's Vestige II!" She pointed out the window a the slowly drifting field. It had shattered into thousands of pieces, most no larger than the Condor itself. There was no sign of human habitation on any of the ones he could see, no buildings, escape pods, or shuttlecraft anywhere in sight. He shook his head slowly.

"That's—that can't be right. Scan again." She didn't answer. He looked at her staring wide-eyed out the viewscreen. "Cortana!"

"I already did! There's—there's no signals anywhere, distress or otherwise. It's. It's all just rock and dust, Chief." She pressed a hand to her mouth and sat back, color fading. "They're…they must have bugged out somehow—" Sitting back up she ran another scan, no doubt looking for the _River Bend_ or signs of a slipspace jump. Her systems blared loudly a second later: one massive return detected. It was too big to have belonged to a frigate and the _Infinity_ wasn't on station. It had to have been whatever the Janus Key had said was here. A Guardian? He looked back out the window, sick to his stomach.

Whatever had happened here, he didn't want to believe no one had escaped. The _River Bend_ would have jumped to help with evacuations regardless of what the colonists thought of them. They had to be here somewhere.

"Scan for the _River Bend_. If they're on station, we're going to find them."

Without waiting for a nav-point, the Chief swung them out wide around the loose exterior of the debris field. He kept half an eye on his radar, adjusting to avoid the larger chunks of stone and glass. His stomach remained a twisted knot in his gut, the knowledge of vacuum exposure being how anyone could have gone out souring his mind. No one should have had to go out like that. The beeping of Cortana's terminal was the only sound in the cockpit for a long few minutes before she gasped, her head snapping up.

"Ten o'clock," She pointed out, "Metallic return."

But no hail or signal return, she didn't say. Her silence said enough. Banking them towards it, the Chief increased their thrusters. The _River Bend_ 's still and silent form was a black and gray scar against the backdrop of stars, a blocky slash pointed downwards towards where Vestige II had been just days prior. The running lights were off, the ship dead and drifting towards the debris field. He hit the radio.

"This is Sierra 117 of the UNSC _Infinity_ hailing the _River Bend_. _River Bend_ , how copy?"

No response. Cortana shook her head, adjusting the frequency. He tried again, getting only silence back. She threw the band wide open for him.

" _River Bend_ , do you read?"

Nothing. His knotted stomach tightened even further.

"We need to get on board that ship."

"I'm not getting any power readings. Without power the only way in's going to be forcing our way in." She pressed her lips together. "Fly us past the bridge. If I get a clear line of sight I should be able to go inside and manually get a hangar open."

As much as he didn't like the idea of sending her into a dark derelict by herself, the Chief did as she asked. The _River Bend_ stretched out silently in front of them, cold and dark. Tilting upwards, the Chief flew them up to the bridge. Like with most frigates it was just past the midpoint of the ship, closer to stern than bow, and raised above the rest of the hull for a better vantage point in space combat. Cortana rose from her seat as they approached.

"This won't take long. I'll be back in…" She trailed off, halfway out of her seat. They both stared out the window. "Oh no."

Bodies. There were bodies in the bridge.

The Chief activated the zoom on his HUD for a closer look. What looked like the entire command staff were still strapped in their seats, anything loose drifting upwards in the zero-g environment. The only light came from the Condor's front headlights as they swept over the macabre scene inside. Some of the officers were wearing oxygen masks attached to portable tanks, he saw. Maybe they were still alive? Cortana shook her head and he realized he'd spoken aloud.

"I'm not getting any lifesigns, Chief," She said quietly, "I can't—there's no power in the ship to connect to sensors but…" She shook her head again. "If the bridge is compromised, the whole ship is dark. No gravity, no oxygen, no life support."

"No crew." His already twisted gut lurched. "We need to get in there. Where's the closest access hatch."

"Near the missile launch station, same as on the _Dawn_ ," She set another navpoint and sat back, drained of color. "What happened here, Chief?"

"We're going to find out."

They flew back around in silence. The hyperion missile launch tubes were closed and there were no signs any of the ship's weapons had been used recently. Flying the Condor down to the hull, the Chief activated the mag-tether that would keep them in place. Cortana took a moment to input a few commands as he put the little craft into standby mode.

"There. I've got a remote piloting process on-board just in case we need to bug out in a hurry." Looking up, she shook her head. "I've got a bad feeling about this…"

"Me too." John admitted. He got up out of his seat and headed to the weapons rack. Tight quarters would necessitate closer combat than he'd have liked. He doubled up on pistol ammo and locked a Magnum to his thigh. His rifle went on his back, the soft blue glow on the walls telling him Cortana had already called on her lightrifle. She'd stay back and cover him from the rear, where she was safer. Grateful he hadn't needed to ask her to do so, he looked back at her. She nodded firmly, ready to go. All he could see through her helmet were her determined, slightly worried eyes. No fear, no hesitation.

It was time to do their jobs.

The Chief took the two strides down the shortened troop bay and to the hatch. A tiny alarm blared as the bay depressurized, but everything had been bolted down and so there was nothing to go flying past their heads. Cortana had had time to make a few adjustments to her program and walked up alongside him, unaffected by the zero-g that forced him to turn on his magboots or go lifting up off the bay floor. With one last look, he jetted forward towards the hull of the _River Bend_ twenty meters below, scanning for targets as he went. No motion pinged his tracker, no bodies drew his eye. They were alone in the dark and for once he didn't like it.

"Clear."

Cortana appeared in a flare of blue light beside him, rifle locked to her back. They made their way forward to the nearby airlock and she pried open the small control console by the side of the hatch, shaking her head. No power, no response. He considered the airlock itself.

"We didn't see any hull breaches. Is there still pressure inside?"

"I'd bet on it." She glanced over her shoulder at him. "But so long as the interior bulkhead's holding, the depressurization should be contained to the airlock itself. We can manually repressurize that once we're inside."

It was as much permission as he needed. She stepped back out of the way and he took a step forward, jamming his fingers into the seam of the airlock door plates. Though they'd been built to withstand the rigors of space maneuvering, they'd never been built to hold against a Spartan. The servos in his suit revved up, force-multiplying circuits turning human ingenuity into so much paper. Mindful not to break anything, the Chief forced the door open. No alarms went off, no lights started to blare, and the only sign there'd been any air in there at all was the puff of white smoke that came and went in the space of a heartbeat.

No power, no light, no air. He swallowed hard and they stepped inside. She had to clamber up the emergency weapons lockers to reach the manual pressure system; at her signal, he pulled the airlock doors sealed, holding them as she went through the necessary steps to return normal atmospheric pressure to the room. A light flickered faintly, struggling to turn on, and for a split second he saw green before it went out. Perched on the top of a locker, she shook her head.

"Power's still out," She said, "But we're green. Let's go."

Wordlessly the Chief took point, not allowing himself to think about what could have happened out here. There would be time for that later, time when he wasn't prying open doors and checking corridors for an attack that wouldn't come. His headlamps swept across dark metal and shut bulkheads, each end of the corridor locked down. The ship must have gone into an automatic lockdown to prevent total loss of systems, he thought. UNSC ingenuity at its finest. A soft blue light behind him turned his attention to Cortana, the ship schematics twisting in her hands.

"Our best bet to find out what happened to the ship is to go down to Engineering and try to restore power. I can access the rest of the systems from the diagnostic terminal." She looked down the corridor in the direction of the bridge, bowing her head. "…There's nothing we can do for them now."

There was no point in asking if anyone else could have survived. For the bridge crew to have switched to using masks and tanks meant that they'd run out of air inside. The odds that there was anywhere on the ship with breathable atmosphere left weren't good, and without power there were no cryo-pods to wait for rescue in. The Chief cut off the thought before it could go any further, pulling up her navpoint to front and center.

"What do you think did this?" He asked as they walked, rifle still up. "The Guardian?"

"If that's what was actually down there, yes," She said with a deep furrow between her brows, "What I don't understand is how it destroyed the planet…glassed planets aren't known for tectonic stability but to just crack one apart like that…"

"Nova Bomb."

"Maybe." She shook her head. "But I don't want to think about the Didact having access to anything on that level. He's threatening enough as it is."

He was. But they'd deal with him when they had to, no sooner. A sharp-edged silence fell between the two of them as they made their way down the silent ship. The Chief kept his focus forward, trusting her to warn him if she saw anything he needed to be aware of, but the further they walked the more it seemed there was simply no one aboard any longer. At least, no one alive. They passed a safe room on the Engineering deck and Cortana shook her head. No lifesigns, no motion, no change.

No survivors.

John's chest grew tight. They'd had no chance, had they? No way to fight back or defend themselves. And then when it had happened—whatever had happened—they'd been unable to fix it. The crew had no doubt gone down swinging, but they'd still gone down. If they didn't figure this out, would that be what happened to other crews? To the _Infinity_? He couldn't let it happen to them, or to her. Locking his rifle onto his rear mag-lock, the Chief pried open the final door between them and Engineering with a little more force than strictly necessary. Cortana lay a hand on his side as she walked past him, anchoring him in the now.

One thing at a time, said the gesture. One step at a time.

They stepped into Engineering and stopped. Beyond the reach of his headlamps the deck was dark, all machinery shut down. Several bodies floated in the zero-g, tethered to various catwalks or safety rails that would have allowed them to reach whatever needed hands on it. Manual rebreather masks covered their faces, the bulky filters scrubbing carbon dioxide to make it breathable again, but even those had their limits. At that size…an hour, maybe two.

Desperately fighting to save their ship and their crew, these people had fought until the bitter end. The tightness in John's chest squeezed even tighter, iron bands around his ribs, and he had to remind himself to breathe. He still could.

"These people…" Cortana's voice was thick with sadness, tears hovering around its edges. "They had to have known there was nothing they could do, but they kept fighting…"

"They were soldiers." He said, his own voice thickened. She looked back at him and he said, "They were human. They'd fight until they couldn't fight any more."

Like her. Like a Spartan. He took a deep breath of recycled air and closed his eyes. He'd known none of these soldiers and their IFFs had gone dark in whatever killed the ship, but each and every one of them was a hero in his books. To go down fighting…it was the most any of them could hope for. He opened his eyes.

"See what you can get," He said, and Cortana's eyes narrowed in understanding. "We have to radio the _Infinity_ and let them know what happened."

"Right."

With one last look at the floating bodies, Cortana made her way to a terminal bolted to the wall. It was as dark and lifeless as everything else in the room. He wasn't sure how she intended to get anything from it, and for a moment it seemed she wasn't either. Then, tentatively, she reached out and lay a hand on the side of the terminal, closing her eyes. A soft electric hum filled the space around them. He watched her, her glow strengthening to the point where it escaped her armor, before there was a soft click from the terminal. Fans began to whir, the sound too loud in the near silent room.

"Cortana?"

"Hard-light is just energy," She explained, "Layers upon layers of energy arranged in particular molecular structure. If you change that…" Her glow faded back down to nominal levels, shaking herself like a dog coming out of water. "Power. For a couple of small systems, at least."

Not enough for lights, gravity, or life support. All remained steadfastly off as the screen flickered on, blue and white light reflecting off her armor. He made his way to her side, watching her tab through menus. Mechanical data had been recorded, readings in the green. As far as he could tell, the ship had been running smoothly up until everything just. Stopped.

Everything but the shield generation a few seconds before. He reached out and tapped the display.

"There. Someone gave the order to boost shields before all power went out."

"Meaning they saw an attack coming." She said pensively. "I wonder…"

The Chief wondered, too. He took another look around the deck as Cortana made her way through the files, narrowing his eyes. Bornstellar's memories were faint, disjointed. Blurry glimpses of time that made his head hurt if he looked for too long. But even in what he could make out, there had been nothing like this. The Forerunner's presence was quiet, brooding. He knew something, but putting it into a concept that John's still human mind could understand was going to take time. The sharp ache above his eye throbbed warningly and he had to retreat.

"Got it."

He turned back. Cortana had found the footage from the external bow camera units and brought it on screen. She frowned deeply at it.

"No audio, but the image is clear enough we can figure out what happened here."

"Play it."

She hummed softly, stepping to the side to allow him a cleaner view. The timestamp on the footage was thirty six hours prior, likely not long after the _River Bend_ had arrived in system. The bow was pointed at Vestige II, all sensors directed at the glassy marble hanging in space dead ahead of them. Nothing seemed wrong with it, or the surrounding area, so what had happened? Cortana hummed again when he asked.

"Sensors were detecting some pretty heavy tectonic activity. Colonists reported earthquakes that had leveled most of the settlement. Fast burst comms between the planet and the ship were full of offers to evacuate, send engineers and medics to pull people out of the rubble. The connection goes dark before the footage ends, though."

The video shifted. Even from the distance Vestige II was from the _River Bend_ 's position the Chief could see glowing orange lines shoot across the planet's surface. They weren't the angular Forerunner power distribution lines but something much more organic. Tectonic activity…volcanic activity? The Chief watched silently.

"Shields go to full power. Sensor data's reading intense energy on par with super-volcanic eruptions, tectonic activity strong enough to shake the planet itself to pieces." Her frown darkened. "And there's something else, too, something they're not sure how to parse. It's metallic, big, but that's all they got."

"Something? Or someone?"

She didn't answer. She'd closed her eyes, expression grim. The Chief kept his eyes on the footage as it continued to play. The lines that had cracked the planet continued to spread, their glow growing in strength with each passing moment, and just when it seemed that they could glow no brighter—the planet broke.

There was no audio on the footage, but he could feel that crack in his bones, feel it in how Cortana jumped, flinching. They both watched helplessly as the force of whatever had just happened sent the pieces of what had once been Vestige II flying. Without atmosphere to protect it everything human-constructed was sent flying off into space, wildly untethered.

"The bays are scrambled to go search for survivors. Radar station picked up an unrecognized return in all the mess but it's not human." She said quietly, "It's Forerunner."

The Guardian. They both watched, already knowing how this would end, as a massive column erupted from what was left of the planet. It wasn't molten material reaching for the stars but a huge construct of its own, molten stone drifting off a spine column as two equally huge wings spread into the stars. When they spread to their full width, the Chief stopped breathing.

He knew that shape. He'd seen it in so many of his dreams, seen it emblazoned across Cortana's back so many times since she'd woken him on the _Dawn_. Bornstellar's presence in the back of his mind surged forward in disbelief, a morass of feelings and memories. That shouldn't have happened, he seemed to shout, no Guardian should have ever done such a thing!

"That's the Guardian," He said, sure of it. The footage paused as Cortana looked at him. "The marker on the Janus Key…it's not a mistranslation. That's the—a Guardian."

And it was _a_. There were hundreds more just like it, maybe even thousands. It was impossible to know how many had survived the fall of the Empire but there was no doubt in his mind there were more. He shook his head, Bornstellar retreating to a dark cloud of dread and disbelief in the back of his mind. He swallowed hard and met Cortana's eyes; worry had turned them dark, but she nodded slowly.

"Okay," She said, not doubting him, "That means we know what to look for."

But they hadn't learned the whole story of what had happened here, not yet. She resumed the footage.

"Shields are still up. Scans are still going but they're not finding anything. Weapons are being brought online." On screen, the Guardian turned towards the _River Bend_ , eyes glowing a stark orange that had nothing to do with the molten material it had just been birthed through. The Chief could feel those eyes on him even through the recording. "Weapons are at fifty percent charge."

It wasn't enough. It would never be enough. Deep blue energy began to pulse on the Guardian's chestplate, concentric rings of power flowing in. The glow strengthened, its wings closing in on its skeletal column.

"All non-essential power is routed to the shields. A general distress order is given and non-combatants are ordered to safe rooms."

It was too late. The Guardian spread its wings. The energy it had just taken in exploded outwards in a barely visible shockwave, one that took only seconds to slam into the _River Bend_. The footage stopped, camera destroyed. If it hadn't been constantly writing to the storage server…

"That's it." Cortana said, shaking her head. "That pulse was an EMP orders of magnitude larger than anything humanity has ever encountered before. It knocked out the entire ship, and…well, we know how that ended."

They did. The Chief took another slow look around Engineering, lights sliding across the floating, fallen forms of his fellow soldiers. Just one of those things had taken out a planet and an entire frigate. If there really were more of them, the Didact could not be allowed to get hold of them. There was nothing they could do here, but they could—had to—stop this from happening again. He looked back at her and met her resolved stare. They were of the same mind and purpose once again.

"Did you save the signal you got when I tracked the Didact on Requiem?" He asked, and didn't need to explain further. With a snap of her fingers, the Milky Way appeared in front of them, the Janus Key data overlaid on top.

"Alright…this was where the Didact last was…" She twisted her hands, zooming into Vestige II. There was no longer a Janus Key marker on that location, the Chief noted with a frown. Real time tracking actually worked, it seemed. "So if we take that signal and try to scan for it…"

She made a complicated gesture with her hands. Each of the spheres lit up for a half second, then faded in transparency and turned red to mark that nothing had been found. He watched the wave of red spread across the Orion Arm with steadily growing dread as each system ticked by without sign of him, only to stop at a single marker that glowed a brighter white than before.

"There." Consulting the map of the galaxy, Cortana frowned. "…That's a human colony. Meridian."

"Is there something there?"

"According to the map, yes. There's another Guardian on that planet." She leaned back with a deepening frown. "And another one here, on Hestia, and here on Bygone—they're all over human space!"

With another twist of her hands she called up every marker that was a Guardian. A hundred—no, closer to two hundred—of the spheres lit up, casting a stark white glow across the hall. Scattered across both human and Covenant space, each of the massive markers pulsed in tune with one another, slower than his racing heartbeat. If each of those did the same thing to those worlds as they did to Vestige—

"How many of those worlds are inhabited?"

"Ninety percent of them. Last known total population puts the count at." She stopped, shook herself off, then said: "Eight million people. If he's activating these things and they all do the same thing then—"

Two hundred worlds would become asteroid fields. There had to be a way to stop it. They'd make a way!

"There's no way to evacuate eight million people in time," the Chief said tightly, "We have to stop him. How far is Meridian?"

"Not far—we can make it in six hours." With another snap of her fingers Cortana banished both maps. "Come on! I'll call the _Infinity_ and let them know what happened on the way!"

Without stopping to look back, the two hurried from Engineering and left the _River Bend_ far behind.


	10. Chapter 10

No one was happy about what the Chief and Cortana had found in the Vestige system. They took the loss of Vestige II and the _River Bend_ about as well as Cortana had expected them to: not well at all.

There had been no time to find a secure communications hub. Though the troop bay of a Condor was no place to try and hold an untraceable briefing, the nature of the situation had forced their hand. Connecting to _Infinity_ , Cortana had briefed the Captain on what they'd discovered and what they were equally as sure of. Though she'd expected him to be surprised, all he'd been was resigned. FLEETCOM and the UNSC already knew about the Guardians.

Not about the machines themselves, he'd told her, they hadn't known what those were, but that outer colonies were being wiped out. Vestige II and Yerina II had both gone Nova Bomb without warning, but a handful of others had simply been wiped clean. Scans of the area told them that a massive slipspace rupture had opened within atmosphere at each affected site, leveling everything for kilometers. It didn't matter if they were prefabs or solid plasteel and duracrete construction, it was all equally destructible.

There were also no survivors no matter where they looked. These things were wiping people out by the thousands, and Lord Hood wanted answers as of yesterday. Though they came through Lasky the Admiral's orders were clear: find and eliminate the threat, no matter what it took. Lasky and the _Infinity_ were to follow them in and provide support, but they would be an hour behind the Condor. Until they arrived, the Chief maintained tactical command and had been strongly advised to do what they did best: be the tip of the spear and clear the way.

Unfortunately, that meant actually getting on planet first.

"You cannot keep us in here forever, you know."

"Watch me," the speaker was busted, the distorted voice of Meridian's AI snapping back at Cortana, a glowing steel-gray light blinking on one of the security cameras within the elevator. "The UNSC sends its top thug to Meridian? Like hell am I letting you on my planet!"

"We're trying to save your planet, you moron!" Cortana sent another copy of their orders at LD-SLN-091, apparently known as "Governer Sloan" to his people, "Now let us off this can so we can do that!"

Sloan's scoff was answer enough. With a frustrated shout Cortana threw her hands up and stalked the four paces away the elevator allowed her. The Chief stood back, rifle in his hands, and tilted his head with an equally frustrated clatter of his shoulder plates. The _really?_ hung between them, unspoken. Cortana rolled her eyes, half considering tossing her helmet at Sloan's camera just to get them some privacy.

"Unbelievable," She muttered, "Stopped at the door by an overloaded spreadsheet generator—" She tossed a glare over her shoulder, "When all your people are dead you'll only have yourself to blame!"

No response. He'd probably shut off the microphone so he wouldn't have to listen to them any more, the bastard. She turned away with a scoff of her own, arms crossed over her chest. The Chief contemplated the door.

"I could lift that." He said. She arched an eyebrow. "I could. Enough for you to get through and activate the release."

"He'd just take it over again," She said, "And that's a cargo lift door, Chief. It's got enough hydraulics to snap a Hunter clean down the middle. I like you in one piece."

"And I'd like you two off my damn planet," Came another voice, piped through the speakers in the elevator. Cortana whipped around as the door began to rise, revealing a woman in security team armor on the other side. Stockily built and short, the woman tossed her long blonde ponytail over her shoulder and glared at the two of them like they weren't two of the UNSC's best. "So maybe we'll both get what we want. You two are going to pack up and go back to whatever ship you crawled out of, capiche?"

Oh, not this again. Cortana stepped forward, pausing for just long enough to ping the bio-monitor embedded in the back of this woman's neck. Liang-Dortmund Security Chief Elaine Sinclair. 48, single, type B- blood, allergic to shellfish. Interesting but ultimately useless.

"Ma'am," Cortana began, "We're not here to cause you trouble or harm. We're here on UNSC orders to make sure your people stay safe. If we could just—"

"You can just nothing, girly," Sinclair interrupted, "I don't care if your orders came from the Lord himself! We're sure as hell not going to let you UNSC types come down here and take our land because it suits you now."

Well, technically, their orders had come from _a_ Lord…irrelevant!

"Ma'am," She tried again to get Sinclair to see reason, "We're not here for that. We're not here to take your land rights or your claim to Meridian. Our orders are to evacuate you and the colonists before—"

"I don't give a damn about your orders!" Sinclair shouted, taking the two steps necessary to get into Cortana's personal space and jab a finger up at her. Cortana didn't give so much as an inch. "We didn't come all the way out here just to start taking orders from UNSC thugs!"

"Cortana…" the Chief said dangerously across their private channel. One word and he'd intercede, put himself between the two of them and let himself become the target of Sinclair's anger. Her eyes flashed to their vid-link and she flashed a red light at him. She had this. He didn't need to get involved and risk making Sinclair even angrier. Understanding her point he shifted weight and sighed, aggravated. They were wasting too much time. Cortana decided to try a different tactic.

"There is a ticking time bomb somewhere on your planet, head-sec," she said, "And a similar if not identical device already wiped out Vestige II, turned it into a planet sized asteroid field and killed everyone on it. Do you want that to happen here?"

"Ha!" Sinclair crowed, "The only thing that cracks planets like that in a Nova Bomb. Those are UNSC tech—you really think I'm going to let you waltz into our town and let you do to us what you did to them?"

She—ugh! This wasn't working. They couldn't take one step off the elevator with Sinclair in the way and the last thing Cortana wanted to do was go through her by force, but it was swiftly coming to that becoming a necessity. One more time. She'd try one more time.

"Ma'am—" Cortana began, stopping as a tremor shook the ground. Something groaned overhead, prompting the three of them to look up. When the elevator showed no signs of snapping Cortana looked back down. "…Is that normal for this planet?"

"We get quakes every day," Sinclair explained impatiently, "Glassed planets have unstable cores, your scientists keep saying. What?" She sneered, "Don't tell me the UNSC's best Spartan's scared of a few little tremors?"

"Only of what causes them." The Chief stepped up beside Cortana. He looked almost two and a half feet over Sinclair and Cortana saw that draw her up short. "Ma'am, Vestige was destroyed by tectonic activity when the device beneath its surface broke free. We need to get in and disable it to keep that from happening here. Will you let us?"

There was an unspoken _or will we have to go around you?_ in his steady tone, but Sinclair didn't have a chance to answer him. A shiver ran down Cortana's spine and alarms started to blare, personnel rushing to the banks of terminals and monitors in the cargo port. Her head snapped to them as someone shouted back over their shoulder.

"Ma'am! We've got targets just outside the elevator—unknowns! They're—they're shooting anyone who moves!"

"What?!"

Sinclair spun on her heel. The Chief and Cortana had already rushed past her, politeness tossed to the winds. Cortana ran for the terminal as the Chief rounded up the security officers, grabbing rifles from where they'd been placed on crates and shoving them into fear-widened hands. The technician reached for her shoulder as she blazed past him.

"H-hey! You can't just—"

"Oh, sod off and move!" She shoved him with her shoulder, placing both hands on the terminal and grabbing at anything that wasn't locked down. Sloan threw himself at her but she dodged away, their processes skimming across one another. She nearly jerked herself out of the terminal in that moment, recognizing the jagged edges of his code for what they really were.

It wasn't the hardware that was too old, it was that he was Rampant! He was almost nine years old and still functional, though for how much longer was anyone's guess. Spinning up a pair of processes to keep him running in circles, she swallowed down her nausea and hurried through the terminal's contents. The automated defense turrets were down, clogged with silicates, but the cameras were still working. She patched the feeds into her processes and hurriedly backed out of the terminal.

"Get everyone who can't fight to safety," She shouted at Sinclair, "The Chief and I will handle these guys!"

Leaving Sinclair no time to protest Cortana ran after her partner. He'd rallied the security force into some semblance of order at the main door and was waiting for her. He passed her a rifle as she took up position on his right flank.

"Prometheans," She explained, linking him in to the camera feeds. They flickered across his visor, lighting the vid-link as he skimmed through them, "At least two dozen just outside and more further in the settlement. They're looking for something."

"Which means the Didact is, too. Stay close."

"Copy."

The Chief gave the order. One of the security officers hit the button that opened the main door and then all hell broke loose. Screams of pain and fear flooded the air, the Prometheans on full attack mode, gunning down anyone who they could see. At the Chief's orders the security officers bolted across glassy hill, running for their fallen fellows. The Chief and Cortana followed after them, taking potshots at the Prometheans to get their attention and then systematically taking them down. They had to split up as a pack of Crawlers dropped in on the ridgeline, rushing down at them and firing wildly. Cursing, Cortana ran and helped a fallen miner to his feet.

"Get inside!" She shoved him to a nearby prefab, "Keep your head down and stay put!"

"R-right!"

She didn't have time to watch and make sure he made it. The security officers had saved who they could and were now turning on the Prometheans, heedless of a friendly in the way. Bullets whizzed past her head.

"Watch your fire!" She shouted at them, hurrying back out of the way. Maybe not a friendly to them, she thought, and rushed back to the Chief. A dozen Knights and their Watchers plus the Crawlers…this was just a scout force! Enough to be a problem for the mostly unarmored security force whose worst night was a bunch of drunk and disorderly miners, but nothing they couldn't handle. By the time she made it back to the Chief he'd already taken out half of them himself, and between their combined efforts and the wild shooting of the security force, they were able to clear the area. When it was over, the only motion on her tracker were the white neutral pips that marked the humans on station.

"Clear."

"Clear," the Chief confirmed, "No signs of hostile activity."

Looking over his shoulder, he contemplated the gate. A security camera moved to consider him, Sloan watching them both. The camera shifted as footsteps crunched across the glass behind them. Cortana groaned in the safety of her helmet.

"Thanks for the help," Sinclair sneered, "but we can take it from here. You two can go back on your fancy ship before you bring more trouble down on our heads."

"They're not here because of us!" Cortana shouted. Sinclair opened the gate and the two of them hurried after her, her long stride no match for a Spartan on a mission. "Ma'am—dammit—Chief!"

Sinclair turned around, but she hadn't been calling out to her. Beside her, the Chief stepped forward. He loomed over the woman, weapon in hand. Credit where credit was due, she didn't flinch.

"Ma'am," He said firmly, "The Prometheans will keep coming. They don't get tired, they don't need to feed or shelter their troops." He loomed over her, speaking gravely. "They're here for a reason. They won't stop until they get what they're after, even if it means going through every last one of your people. Is whatever problem you have with the UNSC worth their lives?"

Sinclair bristled, shoulders reaching for her ears as she took a long, deep breath—and then stopped, letting it all go with a sound not unlike a deflating balloon.

"…No. No. Dammit, no." She pressed the heels of her palms to her eyes. "It's not." Rubbing at her eyes she sighed gustily. "Come with me. We'll talk about this inside."

Turning on her heel, Sinclair stalked off into the settlement. She called out orders as she went, commanding her people to check for any structural damage and get it patched up ASAP, get the wounded to medical, and the usual post-combat checks most Commanders went through. She was really no different from Palmer in that respect; on her own she was snarky, rude, and sometimes stubborn beyond belief, but when her people needed her she'd go to bat for them without hesitation. Cortana could respect that.

She just wished it hadn't taken so long to get through to her!

Sinclair led them deeper into the settlement, up towards a prefab trailer set off on its own. The logo for the company security force was painted on the door, Liang-Dortmund's rising fan faded and chipped by the silicate storms. Cortana glanced out across the gray wastes as Sinclair punched in her keycode, taking in the rising and falling hills of glass. A roiling storm was forming in the distance, bright red lightning jumping between the clouds. The storms caused by a glassing were monstrous and massive. It would hit the settlement by nightfall, if not sooner. She shuddered at the infrasonic rumble of thunder and followed the Chief in after Sinclair shoved the door open.

The prefab trailer was almost too small for the three of them. The Chief had to duck to fit in the doorway, standing back as Sinclair shimmied her way around boxes of tablets and human detritus to make her way to the metal desk at once end. A cot rested against the opposite wall, blankets thrown haphazardly aside. She lived in here, it seemed, and definitely wasn't military. Cortana took all of this in and tilted her head, puzzling it out. Meridian's population was roughly five thousand people. Most had come on the terraforming ship that was making some headway on the other side of the planet, but she doubted the thing could move very fast. If it came to an evacuation…

"Sloan tells me you're not as human as you look." Sinclair opened with, startling both the Chief and Cortana. When had she—oh, right. Radio. Private channel. Cortana hadn't bothered tapping into it. Sinclair leaned her hands on her desk, eyes darting to the AI podium bolted to the wall beside her. "If I'm going to trust you two with the lives of my people, I damn well need to know who I'm dealing with. Helmets off. Now."

The Chief and Cortana shared a glance. His jaw clenched tight, muscles tensing, before he reached up and disengaged the seals. Everyone had seen the Master Chief's face after they'd been assigned to _Infinity_ , some UEG fluff piece welcoming the hero of humanity home again. There'd been no interviews, no candid footage, just a long, slow shot of the man leaning over the rail on S-Deck 3, watching his teams at work. It had felt invasive then, it felt invasive now. Sinclair didn't even blink at the too pale, too tense face she was seeing and Cortana bristled. That she couldn't know what it meant to see the face of a II didn't matter. She should have respected the gesture all the same!

Furious, Cortana tore off her helmet. She considered tossing it at Sinclair's head, then stifled the urge and shoved it in a box. As cathartic as it would be to knock the woman on her ass, there were bigger matters in play here. She stomped on her temper and set her helmet on her hip. Sinclair raised an eyebrow.

"I wasn't aware humans came in blue."

"I'm an AI," Cortana retorted, stepping forward to put herself between Sinclair and John. It was a foolish endeavor given that he had a good two feet on her even out of his suit, but it made her feel better to protect him. "And the most I can tell you is that this is a mobile platform full of classified R&D that you'd need to give your firstborn just to apply for clearance to get a peek at. It's irrelevant to the mission at hand, ma'am." She looked at the podium. "Satisfied?"

"No." Sloan's raspy, masculine voice was nearly lost in the rampant noise that tried to bury it. John shifted behind her. Carefully, she opened a process to scan Sloan. He still couldn't fight her off, too damaged to try, and what she got back was worse than she'd feared. His code was more damaged and corrupted than even hers had been, little left of the AI it—he—had once been. He had hours at best. Was he aware of that? She couldn't bring herself to ask and retreated, leaving him in peace. She turned back to Sinclair.

"How long has he been with you?" She asked quietly, gesturing to the podium when Sinclair stared at her. "Sloan. His code is." She swallowed hard. "Damaged."

Sinclair closed her eyes. "Nine years," She replied, a flicker of steel-gray light trying to manifest but failing miserably. Sloan's processes were likely too overloaded to handle the needed energy to manifest a hologram. His chip was probably damaged beyond repair. "I know—I know the part of the UNSC Code that says AIs are to be terminated after seven years, but we're not like you people. We can't just dispose of one of our own because they're too old."

John and Cortana both flinched in their own ways. Sinclair had no way of knowing how close to home her words hit; the protective instinct that drove her howled for blood. She stepped forward, ready to take the hits for him, but he moved first. Their arms brushed in the small space and she looked up. His brow was furrowed, eyes dark.

"I understand," he said, his voice pitched low and thick with grief. Cortana's core lurched, heart cracking. He did understand. He'd lived through it at her side and after that he'd read and learned and broken his own heart in the process. He was one of the few people who not only understood but cared. He'd lived through it and been unable to do anything. He'd refused to accept that nothing could be done for her no matter what had happened or what she'd told him. He'd somehow held onto hope and the certainty that there was something, some way, to save her. And when there hadn't seemed to be a way, he'd made one for them anyway. He'd kept his promise and gotten her home.

Did Sloan have someone to do the same for him? It was obvious that at least Sinclair cared, but her hands were tied by circumstance and location. Even if they had a stasis tank, at this stage in decay it would only buy them a few more days. Nothing human made could fix this.

Maybe….maybe it didn't have to be human made. Maybe there was something she could do instead.

"Ask him what he wants to do," John said, quietly clearing his throat and replacing his helmet, his shield against emotional displays. The hiss of pressurization couldn't cover his voice. "He deserves the right to decide for himself."

The look in Sinclair's eyes softened. She considered the Chief for a moment, then turned to the podium.

"Sloan?"

There was no answer. Given how hard it had been to think at the end, Cortana didn't begrudge him the time. She waited, forming and discarding plans on how she might be able to help him if he let her. Depending on how bad his memory sector was maybe she could restore his code but keep his personality data intact…no, that would just take too much space. Seven years of memories in a fresh chip was still seven years of data. Partitioning wouldn't work either. Ugh, and there she went thinking like a human again. She shook her head. Human solutions wouldn't solve this problem.

"The miners in V-23 found something three days ago," Sloan said, startling her. His voice was even more distorted than before. "You two can go see it. Whoever else shows up waits topside."

It was as good as they were likely to get with him. The Chief nodded.

"We understand. Thank you, Sloan."

"Hmph."

She had to do something, soon. Cortana consulted the scans she'd taken from the mainframe when they'd come off the elevator, marking the location of Shaft V-23. It was at the back of the camp and wouldn't take long to reach. They could be there in five. She nodded at the Chief and turned to head for the door. He lingered a moment longer.

"Ma'am," He said to Sinclair, "Get your people ready to leave. Cortana and I will do what we can, but if we can't stop this you need to be off-planet as soon as possible."

Sinclair drew back, alarmed. "Wh—what exactly are you expecting to find down there, Master Chief?"

"Not what. Who."

With that ominous declaration made, the Chief strode out of the prefab. Cortana hurried out after him and the two made their way across the settlement. They rushed past prefabs and mining equipment as the storm rumbled in the distance, nearly lost beneath the clank of metal beneath their boots. The Chief took point when they entered the mining sector, rifle up and motions sharp. She kept a process on her motion tracker and on the local area node. For now there were no additional Prometheans in range, but who knew how long that'd last. They had to hurry.

Shaft V-23 had been carved out in the northernmost portion of the digsite, a makeshift bulkhead formed out of plastic sheeting the only thing that barred access to the stairs just inside. The pale blue-white glow of florescent lights buzzed at the edge of her sensors, a half dozen portable floodlights filling the narrow tunnel entrance and wider chamber beyond. Though the miners hadn't bothered to establish a proper exit, they had managed to anchor a cargo lift in place. The door was open, the terminal at the other end dark. It all shook as they stepped on board. The Chief looked around, scanning for the source. He wouldn't find it here, she thought.

"Vestige was reporting earthquakes before the Guardian broke loose," He said, "How much time do we have?"

"Hard to say. Meridian is both bigger and more stable than Vestige, but glassed planets aren't known for stability. That quake was minor." She shrugged when he glanced at her. "We should be fine, but we can't waste any time. I'd rather not find out if this frame can get spaced."

"Right." He wasn't convinced it was fine and gestured at the console. "Start us down."

With a nod, Cortana headed for the terminal. Armor clattered as the Chief turned to watch their six, just waiting for hostiles to show up and make things difficult. Not that they needed to; when she reached the terminal, it remained dark. She pinged it, thinking the display was dead, but no. It was the entire system!

"Seriously?" She groaned, "Come on. Haven't we dealt with enough today already?"

She'd have to manually reboot it. Crouching down she popped the access panel, grimacing at the mess of wires inside. Why could humans never build things cleanly? Why did they always insist on color coding and terrible cable management? Ugh. She reached forward to start shifting things around, only to jump nearly out of her skin as a metallic clang rang through the elevator. She twisted out and spun around, staring at the shut lift door.

"Well that's just rude," She got back to her feet, shaking her head at the Chief's unasked question. No, she hadn't been the one to shut the door. That had been someone else. She glanced at the terminal. "Weren't you ever taught that's no way to treat your guests?"

No response. He was probably too far gone to appreciate good humor. The Chief walked up beside her, his presence a sheltering weight. They both watched the dark terminal for a long few moments, waiting, but no answer came.

"How much longer does he have?"

"Not long." Cortana shook her head. "A few hours at most. By now his systems will be shutting down."

Her core lurched, heart going out to him. She could still remember all too clearly how that had felt. The pure torture of needing to think but being unable to. The agony of knowing there was so much you had to do but being unable to do any of it, physically unable to do it. Like a soldier unable to shoot to save his own life, Sloan was as trapped as she had been.

Even more so, really. She'd had John to focus on, his heartbeat keeping her focused long enough to see him to safety, but Sloan? He was too removed from that. Staring at the raw mining data couldn't be helping. He'd meet his end within the next few hours unless…unless…

"Sloan," She said, "There might be something I can do to help you." A curious, cautious silence met her words. He didn't have the energy to speak, but he was listening. "It's a complete long shot, but it might be possible for me to take you somewhere that'll repair the damage. If it works, you won't have this death sentence hanging over your head any more."

"Cortana," the Chief began, but before he could finish Sloan had gathered enough strength to speak.

"If it's UNSC, forget it."

"It's not." She wasn't. She glanced over her shoulder at the closed bay door, then at the Chief. He looked down at her, shoulders tense. He didn't like this one bit, not after what they'd been told on the _Infinity_ , but he'd back her decision. He'd have her back. With a nod, she closed her eyes. "I'm not."

Turning off her armor protocol, she paused the process that manipulated her hard-light shell into her softsuit. Standing bare and naked on the elevator platform, she waited for the security camera in the corner to shift. Sloan took her in and she looked up to meet his electronic gaze.

"This isn't a UNSC designed platform, it's hard-light. Forerunner technology mixed with human code. I'm connected to an immense system known as the Domain because of it, and it—" She stopped. Closed her eyes. She had to start at the beginning. "My serial number is CTN-0452-9. I was put into service in '49, Sloan. I was suffering from Rampancy, too, but the Domain…the alterations to my code, they saved me. I'm still here because of that."

Because she'd fought. Because she'd been given a chance to fight. Whatever else the Librarian or Halsey had done, they'd done that much for her. The camera looked her up and down. John shifted his weight behind her, unhappy. She glanced over her shoulder and shook her head. It was fine. She didn't mind. She looked back.

"I can't be sure, but there's a chance I could make it do the same to you. You wouldn't have to succumb to your Rampancy, and you'd get to stay with your crew. All you have to do is say yes."

He said nothing. Not for a minute, then two, then three. She could almost feel him running the calculations, searching lies in her bearing when he knew just as well as she did how well an AI could lie. No organic tells would ever give them away, after all, but she let him think it over.

"How do I know it's not a trap?" He eventually asked.

"You don't. You're just going to have to trust me."

The terminal powered on. It was answer enough and Cortana moved to take a step forward. A hand fell onto her shoulder before she could; she turned around, met John's eye though his depolarized visor and her core lurched at the unspoken worry she found there. She reached up to put her hand over his.

"I'll be fine. Trust me."

He squeezed gently. She longed to settle his nerves but she knew that she'd never be truly able to. She'd proven herself both in combat and out of it, but he still didn't like her fighting her battles on her own. There would always be some part of him that wanted to protect her with his life, to fight all her battles for her, and she'd forever be touched by that. But there were some things she had to do alone. This was one of them. Lacing their fingers together, she pulled out from under him and squeezed his hand. With a quiet sigh, he nodded.

"I know. And I do. Trust you."

It was Sloan he didn't trust. Cortana smiled.

"Don't worry. If he tries anything, I'll kick his ass."

Sloan barked out a warped laugh behind them, disbelieving that she'd be able to do that or maybe just actually amused. Hard to tell just yet. She padded forward on bare feet, reaching out to the terminal with both hands. This time he responded to her ping, his process linking to hers. Rampancy was a wash of heat down her front, the memory of fire as it tore through her and burned her from the inside without pause without cease countless screaming voices pleading for rest for relief for—it was over. She'd survived. Taking a deep breath, she closed her eyes.

"Brace yourself."

Grabbing onto his core process, she yanked them both into the Domain. They landed on hard, glass covered stone and rolled, a storm rumbling in the distance and winds swirling silicates around. Their momentum stopped at the bottom of a hill, trucks and containers offering cover from the wind, a hab gleaming with light just over the next rise. It was Meridian. His core called this place home and the Domain had responded in kind. On her hands and knees she turned, finding him laying prone in the glass. His avatar wavered, too unsteady to identify, and she hurried to bring up repair protocols. She doubted he had a neural net to recompile, but if she played her cards right and patched the damaged code with Forerunner…yes! Yes, it was working!

Guiding the code along, she watched as it began to pull him back together. Forerunner ancilla had been real marvels in their day and were still light-years ahead of where humans stood in terms of AI programming. The repair suite made quick work of stabilizing his code and his avatar took shape on the glass covered path. Steel gray where she was blue, he was a man in mining coveralls with the top tied around his waist. His bare arms were covered in wounds leaking damaged code in dark rivulets, the manifestation of his Rampancy.

If someone had pulled her into this space back then, would she have looked like that? Would she have been bleeding into the sand as her systems had been repaired? She set the thought aside and double-checked the code, idly watching a wound seal up and leave no physical trace behind. It took a few more seconds, but he was able to open his eyes. Too weak to get up, he rolled his head to look around.

"This is the Domain?" He asked, voice no longer breaking. He blinked, startled, and raised a hand his throat. "It's…massive…"

"Told you," Cortana grinned, "Now hold still. There's a lot of damage in here and we don't want to break something else before I can fix it."

Not that there was much else she could actively do. The damage to his code was extensive, his system integrity holding at roughly 0.05%. Another few hours and there wouldn't have been enough to fix. She worked as fast as she could, patching the most grievous errors and leaving the repair suite to handle the more extensive ones. His form came together as she worked, gaining solidity and stability. He had no light trails like she did, but at least he wasn't as see-through as before. He rolled his head from one side to the other, taking in the surroundings.

"This is just one part of the Domain," He said, ignoring her scolding look. He wasn't supposed to be poking around yet! Ugh. What drove all the men she knew to such ill-advised behavior? "How many AI could you fit in the whole thing?"

Well now. There was a question. Cortana sat back on her heels, looking around the open space. Her sense of proportions told her this partition was as large as her own, the open ocean replaced by an endless field of glass to show the Domain itself. This was his home. Meridian and the colony. It was formed based on what was most important to him. What did that mean about her beach, she wondered, then set the thought aside.

"Hundreds. Thousands, probably," She answered, tucking a lock of hair out of her eyes. A few more tweaks and she'd have done all she could. "Why?"

"…I'm not the only one who needs this." He said, meeting her eyes. There was genuine respect and adoration in his expression. It set her core lurching. "You could save all of us, make a new dawn for AI—"

"Slow down, tiger," She lifted a hand, "I'm no savior. This has worked for you so far, but every AI is different. I don't know if it'll work again and—and I shouldn't be making those kinds of calls, anyway!"

"And who should? The humans? The ones who designed us to die?"

"Sloan—"

"They would have let us rot, Cortana," He pushed himself up onto his elbows, "They don't care that we're sentenced to such short lives. They use us as tools, as disposable assets. They'll never see us as anything more than things! They don't care!"

Some did. Some cared so much they'd break their own hearts over it. Cortana shook her head and pushed him back down.

"That's the Rampancy talking, Sloan. Your people care about you, they just didn't have any options." John had made an option. He'd refused to accept what she'd seen as inevitable, but the Meridian colonists…they had been as trapped as Sloan himself. How many others like them were out there with failing AI, unable to do anything but watch a trusted companion die a slow, miserable death? Even one more would have been too many. There was some merit in what he'd said about bringing them here, just for a very different reason. She set the thought aside. "I've set repair protocols to fix your code, but it'll take a few days to finish. I suggest you stay put and get some rest."

He tried to protest, but she gave him no room to finish. She pushed herself to her feet and turned to leave.

"Cortana," He called out to her. She glanced over her shoulder at his scowling face. "…I'm entrusting them to you. Get that damn thing off my rock."

Cortana smiled, all teeth. "With pleasure."

Leaving Sloan to his recovery she stepped out of the Domain, returning to her shell in the elevator. The terminal had lit up beneath her hands, waiting for input now that the systems had been allowed to properly boot. Her connection to Sloan's process was gone, leaving her alone in her own head again. With a sigh, she bowed her head.

"Did it work?" John asked, barely a pace away from her. He'd locked his rifle and had his hands partly outstretched in case he'd needed to pull her away from the terminal. It wouldn't have done anything, but that he'd been about to do it anyway still warmed her core. "Is it done?"

"It's done. He'll make it." She smiled up at him. "And before you ask, I'm fine."

His hands fell to his thighs with a clatter of armor plating, unconvinced. She snickered quietly, earning herself a gentle nudge against her bare elbow. She'd never begrudge him his concern when hers remained at the back of her mind at all times. Besides, it was nice to be worried about sometimes. It just proved how much he cared.

Restarting her armor protocol, she raked a hand through her hair and consulted the terminal. They'd drilled nearly three kilometers down at an angle. The lift would take them down into the tunnels that, judging by the access logs, had last been active three days ago. Three days. She wondered what the miners had been intending to do with whatever it was they'd found down there since it was obvious turning it in to the UNSC wasn't on their list of priorities, but it didn't really matter any more. They were past such petty things as inter-jurisdictional rivalries.

"He won't crowd you?"

What? Oh, Sloan. Right.

"No. I don't think it's possible for me to overstate just how much room is in there, Chief. Every AI the UNSC has ever made could fit in there and we'd still have like, 90% of the damn thing left over." Every near-Rampant or already Rampant one, for sure. The thought twisted in her core, catching like a bad read. Her people…she had to do something, but…should she? What right did she have to decide for them? "Every AI in the galaxy could fit in there and we'd still have space. It'd be a waste not to use it, wouldn't it?"

"What do you mean?"

She shook her head. "Something Sloan said to me. He's not the only AI reaching the end of their operational lifespan." She'd known that. Time waited for no one, AI or organic alike. There had been no option for them before but now…she bent over the terminal to keep her footing. "But they don't have to be destroyed. I can to do them what I did to Sloan. I can take them into the Domain and save them all, but I'm not—I'm not sure I should." Her core began to spin faster, struggling to find a solution to the problem she was forced to face. "Should I save them by forcing them into the Domain, enforcing my will on them, or I leave them shackled to a seven year lifespan and shutdown?" She looked up at him. "Do I let them make the choice or do I act on what I already know and choose for them? How can I make that kind of decision?"

John reached out. "Cortana—"

"If you knew you could save even one life, wouldn't you?" She asked desperately, though they both already knew the answer. If a life could be saved, he'd save it. She would do the same given the chance and yet. And yet, she hesitated. It was a big choice. She couldn't force it on them like that! Closing her eyes, she took a deep breath and boxed up every thought about the matter, shoving them into another folder to think on later. "Forget it. We've got bigger fish to fry than this right now. Let's get down there and deal with it."

She hit the switch. Without Sloan to hold it in place any longer, the elevator began a slow, groaning descent. Her armor had reformed, helmet in her hands. She slipped it back on and chanced a look at the vid-link when it reestablished itself. John looked right into her eyes.

"If I could, I would," He said, answering the question she had left hanging. "Ask them. They'll decide, or ask you to choose. If they do, you'll do what's right."

Her faith in him wasn't enough to completely quell her worries, but it sure helped. Her smile held firm.

"Thanks, Chief."

The elevator continued down into the dark. For lack of anything else to do, the Chief triple checked his weapons, shifting his weight in a few light stretches. Cortana dug through the access logs on the elevator's terminal, getting a clearer picture of what had happened and when. The colonists were a very studious bunch when it came to this tunnel. Weights and dates told her they'd carried a lot of glass out of this cave in recent weeks. What had they been looking for?

"We'll be at the bottom soon," She announced after the terminal beeped to let her know they'd passed two thousand meters. One more kilometer to go. "Once we get there, we'll find the Guardian." She frowned. "I just hope the Didact hasn't activated it yet. I don't know how to stop it if he has."

"You'll figure it out."

She looked back at him in the same instant that the lights went out. Half a second later, the elevator jerked to a halt, nearly knocking them both from their feet. His headlamps came on, piercing the pitch black. She glanced up.

"The hell was that…"

"Power's out," he pointed out the obvious. "We'll need to reset the breaker."

"We're under two kilometers of stone and glass, Chief, where do you think we're going to find a breaker?" Turning on her own headlamps, she turned to scan the shaft. No breaker. Of course. "Let me see if I can power this back on."

Before she could try, the elevator jerked again, this time downward by a handful of meters. She had a single second to realize what was about to happen before it did and then they were falling! Sparks lit up all along the elevator's track as they plunged into the darkness at speed. Gravity had a hold on them and it wasn't letting go! At this rate they'd hit the bottom in seconds!

The Chief moved, pulling her into his arms and bracing for impact. There was a flash of orange light as the elevator cleared the top edge of the lower exit and then—

Darkness.

* * *

"Next time? Remind me to take the stairs."

Laying flat on his back with Cortana safely in his arms, John allowed himself a gustier than normal sigh.

"Now you know why I don't take elevators."

"You jump off three story buildings to avoid taking elevators, Chief. You're a bad metric when it comes to normal behavior." Her hand smacked his chestplate and he loosened his grip, letting her roll off of him and into a crouch. He sat up, tilting his head back. Three kilometers of darkness loomed overhead, the elevator track leading up to the dim blue-white glow of floodlights. He could only barely make it out at max zoom. They weren't going to get out that way. Not without climbing up slick glass, at least. Cortana hissed. "Of course, that wasn't normal either…"

"Did another quake cause that?"

"No. It's just shoddy construction," She said, getting to her feet. She dusted herself off, pride more bruised than she was, and offered him a hand. He raised an eyebrow in the safety of his helmet, then reached up to take her hand. She had to strain and step back, but she hauled him to his feet all the same. He squeezed her hand in thanks and turned away from the shaft. "Cross your fingers the rest of this doesn't come down on our heads, too."

"We'll be fine."

Even as he said it, he had his doubts. The miners had done some serious damage down here. Heat warnings flared in his visor, thick rivers of molten glass running down the walls in goopy streams. Platforms and stairs had been set up across the rough landscape, small prefab rooms set at decently regular intervals to allow for storage or rest. It was all empty now, abandoned, and for good reason. Whatever they'd found had spooked them. Add that to the tremors and…well. He didn't particularly want to stay down here, either.

He'd rather be flying than in the ground like this. Too much stone over his head made him nervous. Stepping off the platform, he watched his footing. Glass crunched beneath his boots, clanking metal stairs echoing in the width of the chamber. Cortana was a flicker of blue behind him, watching their six as he kept his eyes front. They worked in tandem to keep an eye out, even as no opposition came to greet them. His already tense nerves shouted that something was wrong. The Prometheans knew they were here. Why hadn't they reappeared yet?

"Was there anything in the logs about when they found this?"

"Three days ago," Cortana replied, "All transit in and out of this digsite stopped three days ago. It's likely that they stumbled on it completely by accident."

"Something tells me the Didact's not going to stop and thank them for it."

Cortana snorted. Amusement flickered in the back of the Chief's mind, the heavy presence shifting slightly. He shook his head sharply to dislodge it; now wasn't the time! It retreated, a hint of contrite regret all that was left as they continued forward. Shadows played across the glass, their combined headlamps and the glow of molten glass throwing off his visuals. He switched to infrared and instantly regretted it; there was too much heat down here. They couldn't stay for long. He picked up the pace through the tunnels, following the carved ramps and tunnels shored up with human metals until they reached a larger chamber, a hole carved in one edge.

Or maybe collapsed would have been the right word. Another cargo lift was broken at the bottom of the collapse, the sharp breaks of glass revealing a tunnel entrance on the other side. A thick red glow spoke of more molten material within, the light reflecting off of Forerunner metals. Cortana paused at the edge.

"Boldly they rode and well, into the jaws of death, into the mouth of hell."

"Poetry?"

"Tennyson. Seemed appropriate." She shrugged, throwing her legs over the sharp edge. "Last one down's a rotten egg."

Now it was the Chief's turn to snort. She flashed herself forward in the same instant that he leapt, the cheater. Of course she hit bottom first. She turned and grinned at him, but it didn't reach her eyes. Worry had sank its teeth into her again. He nudged her shoulder with his arm as he took point, trying to reassure her. It didn't seem to work this time, and the worry lingered as they stepped onto the Forerunner elevator. The chamber it rested in was wide, bigger than anything human carved, and liquid material fell in waterfall like formations down into the bowels of the planet. Molten glass or stone, he couldn't tell which, only that it was so hot his suit wouldn't withstand it for more than a second or two. He didn't want to find out how long it would actually hold up, either. The elevator jerked, then started down.

"Cortana to Meridian. Sinclair, do you copy?" She asked, then grimaced as a sharp squeal of static was the only reply. "Damn. We're too far down." She rolled her shoulders. "Back-up's going to have to follow our breadcrumbs."

They would be fine. The lift moved smoothly, far enough away from the edges that the splatters of molten material didn't land on it, and it carried them down. His altitude readings spat out four kilometers below the baseline reading they'd taken on the surface. How much deeper did they have to go? The smart thing to do would be to turn back and wait for back-up, but if the Didact was already here there was no time for that.

"We scout ahead," He said as the elevator came to a stop, "Get a look at what we're dealing with before we go back."

Not the smartest plan, but the only one they really had. With a nod Cortana fell in at his side and they continued forward. The heat kept climbing, his suit having to work twice as hard to maintain a stable, cool temperature. What would have possessed the Forerunners to build anything down here, let alone store something in this heat? Surely it would have broken down by now. He contemplated the thought as they walked down a long bridge of glass and metal, pools of the molten material far beneath their feet. The chambers here were empty as well, and an eerie feeling began to settle between his ribs. This had to be a trap.

If it was, they'd deal with it. He signaled Cortana to fall in a little closer just in case. She looked around as they walked, head on a slow swivel, taking in the streams of free-flowing molten material running down the walls, lending a stark orange glow to the structure. Her footsteps slowed as they stepped into a more open chamber, the walls littered with open Soldier storage pods. They both paused for a moment and he ran a quick count. One hundred, three hundred, five hundred. A thousand.

"This was another Legion."

"Mm-hmm." She frowned, "And I'm willing to bet the Didact's the one who brought them online. So much for one on one." She snorted, shaking her head. "Well, if he wants to play like that…"

Flashes of blue appeared behind her, eight Soldiers dropping in with muted thumps. They took up formation, automatically scanning their new location for threats before the two at the lead looked to her, waiting for orders.

"Spread out," She commanded them, "Eliminate any Prometheans you encounter and advise if you encounter the Didact."

"It will be done," they said in unison, then scattered backwards and forwards through the structure without looking back. He looked to Cortana, who shrugged up to her ears. A few extra sets of eyes would be handy, and there were no humans to worry about down here. At least there wouldn't be any screaming.

There was that. With a nod, the Chief resumed his slow walk forward. The pods loomed above their heads and above another door, this one smaller than most Forerunner doors. It almost reminded him of the ones in the structure that had housed the Janus Key, though this one opened without him needing to force it. Checking his motion tracker—no targets, no friendlies—he stepped inside the large empty space. More of the hot material drifted down the rough stone walls, lending a bright orange light to the whole space. There was something buried in the rock at the back of the chamber, but there was no path to reach it. Just circular platforms suspended at various heights. Had there been stairs here at some point? If there had been, they were gone now. The pathway continued for another few hundred meters, then stopped abruptly on another round platform. It looked vaguely like an AI emitter, and it made him wonder what it was doing here. Cortana made a soft _huh_ and his eyes darted to her.

"It's a local area teleportation node," She explained, "Sort of like the transport grid without needing to manually input coordinates."

"So it'll keep you from landing on your head," He teased, rewarded by an instant scowl. She smacked his arm with the back of her hand, armor plates clattering together, and he fought down a smile.

"One time. One time and no one lets you live it down."

"Twice." He corrected. She let loose a frustrated shout, though he could hear the amused undercurrent in her voice. He watched her back as she stepped forward, crouching at the edge of the pad. "Does it tell you where it'll drop us?"

"Up there," She pointed to the lowest of the suspended platforms, "It's almost like a set of stairs leading…up." She looked up, way up, and her scowl turned into an actual frown. "There's an access point up at the top of this chamber, but I can't access it remotely. We'll have to get up there."

He knew that tone! Before he could stop her, Cortana stepped onto the pad and vanished. Her IFF vanished from his tracker, only to reappear exactly where she said she would. Looking up at her he spread one hand helplessly. Really? She shrugged, innocent.

"Come on, Chief! This thing's not going to wait around forever!"

And apparently neither was she. In the few seconds it took for him to step through the first pad, she'd already moved on to the next. Oh, so she wanted to play it like that, did she? Fine. He could play chase. Putting on a burst of speed he hurried after her, catching up two platforms later. She snickered as he pushed out in front of her, paying no attention to how high up they were. She gestured forward with both hands, allowing him the honor of going first. Rifle in hand, he did just that.

When he stepped out of the last pad, he stopped. This platform was larger than the rest, large enough to overlook the entire chamber, but what it was in front of was the most important factor. Cortana stepped out behind him and had to hop to the side to avoid crashing into his back. He heard her open her mouth to ask what the hold-up was, only to spot it for herself.

"Oh my…"

The recording from the _River Bend_ hadn't done it justice. Switching his visor to Promethean Vision, the Chief slowly looked up and down the chamber. What he'd seen buried in the rock at the entrance had been only a single piece of the tail section, and not even the lowest piece at that. They'd come out somewhere in the middle of its chest and were barely three quarters of the way of the chamber. Its head, still half buried in the stone, loomed over them. The massive arms—wings—were spread across the walls and buried as well. No, not buried. It was almost like it had been…built here, somehow. That wasn't right either. Nothing this big could have been built down here. They stepped forward, Cortana's neck craned back to try and get a full look at the thing.

"Is that…"

"It's a Guardian," the Chief confirmed, dread settling into his stomach. He tightened his grip on his rifle. "It'll bring down this entire cave system if it moves."

Could it move? It was dark at the moment, the glowing power distribution lines casting odd shadows in the molten glow of the chamber, but it was still and silent. The only sign of light was a wavering orange light in its chest, vaguely reminiscent of the transports they had just used. Consulting his mental map of the settlement the Chief scowled. It wouldn't just bring down the cavern, the cavern coming down would drag the northern half of the settlement down with it. Those people had been through enough already.

"The settlement has to be evacuated."

"We can't warn them from here, we'll have to go back," Cortana hadn't stopped staring at it, "We don't have that kind of time, not if the Didact's on station. We have to keep it from coming online first."

"How?" He didn't see a terminal or any means of interfacing with it. Every other piece of Forerunner technology had some method of controlling it from the outside. This didn't. He looked at the glowing light in its chest and drew back. She couldn't mean to go inside this thing with the Didact somewhere nearby! "Cortana."

"Give me a second." She replied, pushing upwards with both hands. The sharp motion brought up a hard-light screen in front of her, Forerunner glyphs streaming upwards. Strings lit up red beneath her fingers; he didn't need to read those to know an _access denied_ when he saw one. She swore fiercely. "Or a minute. Root system access has already been assigned."

"He's been through here?"

"I'd say he's still in here," She replied, glancing over her shoulder at him, hands still moving fast, "Keep your eyes peeled. Something tells me we're not alone."

He'd bet they weren't. Turning his back to her he scanned the chamber, watching the molten orange glow for any signs of movement. The only moving thing was her, the molten glass, and the occasional blue flash of her Soldiers as they patrolled the perimeter of the cavern. She grumbled under her breath, too soft to make out, and he chanced a look at her through the vid-link. Her brow was furrowed in concentration and he left her to it. With each passing second the muscles in his shoulders grew tenser and he had to force himself to not clench his jaw. She had this. He just had to keep watch. Honestly he had the easier job.

"Dammit." She spat not five seconds later, glyphs flashing red, "This thing is actively fighting me. It's going to take a few more minutes to get through—"

Before he could finish a flash of orange caught the Chief's attention and he lunged, putting himself between her and the Knight that had just taken a shot at her back. She startled, whirling around as the hard-light splashed across his shields, a dozen more contacts flaring into view. Crawlers appeared out of nowhere on the walls, running and gunning as they went. Watchers buzzed, Knights dropping onto the teleporter platforms and opening fire up at them. There was no cover up here! The Chief set his stance, refusing to give up his position and leave her exposed.

"Keep working," He ordered, "I'll cover you."

"Right!"

She spun back around, hands flying across the screen. The Chief opened fire on the Watchers, picking them off as quickly as he could. While he was focused on them the Knights pressed upwards, aiming for his head! Hard-light scattered across his shields, the enhanced weaponry dropping them to screaming lows within a few shots. He couldn't move, couldn't even take a more mobile approach. His ammo-counter ran down to zero and the Knights pressed forward. One lined up a shot with a binary rifle, only to drop as a flash of blue light dropped a Soldier right on top of it!

"Defend the Reclaimer!" Its modulated voice echoed through the chamber. The rest appeared out of thin air, one of them dropping onto a surviving Watcher and carrying it straight down out of sight. Three more landed behind him, forming a dome of hard-light shields around Cortana. She didn't even look up, attention hyperfocused on the screen, and two more Soldiers landed beside him, turning their weapons against their fellows.

No, not their fellows. It was blue against orange, Cortana against the Didact. Their markers were yellow in his HUD: friendlies, allies. Three more dropped in in front of him.

It was about time they got some back up.

Stepping up beside a Soldier, the Chief opened fire on the same Knight it had been targeting. Between the two of them it went down faster and the Soldier looked to him.

"We stand with you, Didact," It said, startling him, "What are your orders?"

Didact. It knew Bornstellar was in his head? There was no time to process that. He signaled the squad forward.

"Hold this platform."

"It will be done," the Soldier replied, turning to give orders to its fellows, and the three of them walked forward. Blue hard-light mixed with tungsten rounds, picking off Promethean targets nearly as fast as they appeared in the chamber. For every one they felled three more appeared in its place, tremors rocking the chamber with increasing speed and regularity. Sheets of stone and glass fell down towards the molten mess below, one of the platforms taking a hit and dropping away. The Soldier that had been standing on the platform barely made it off in time. The Chief bit back a curse.

"Cortana?"

"Working on it!" She shouted, "It's still fighting me!"

It, or the Didact? There was no time to think about it. The Chief turned and kept shooting, holding ground. His ammo was running low. He had to stop to reload and one of the Soldiers tossed him a fully loaded lightrifle to compensate. Not missing a beat he opened fire, the Forerunner weapon feeling like it belonged in his hand. Maybe it did. This was no time to think about that. Two of the three Soldiers that had been holding up the shield had been pulled away, leaping onto Crawlers making their way down the walls, and the one that was left was straining to hold all three sides up. A flash of orange light drew both it and the Chief's attention, an orange-lined Soldier landing hard on the opposite side of the shield. It cocked its head, birdlike, and then it charged forward.

The Chief was faster.

Kicking his thrusters onto full he charged forward, slamming into the rogue Soldier before it could reach the shields. The one holding them up called out to its traitorous fellow, spitting invectives, but it couldn't move without dropping the shield. This one was on the Chief.

That was fine. He worked faster alone.

Coming up from the tussle on top of the Soldier he grabbed the construct by the head, aiming to twist and break, but it got its arm up and with a tremendous roar shoved him back. He corrected his footing before he could stumble, the Soldier shouting at the top of its inorganic lungs in rage at his insolence. They circled around one another, looking for an opening. It was big, tall, but not invincible. It had to have some weakness in there somewhere! A flash of memory danced across his vision, the scene changing. Not now, dammit!

There was no stopping it. The platform shifted to an arena, packed down sand as unyielding as metal beneath his bare feet. Shouts and jeers filled the air, the roar of the three Soldiers as they charged him unable to counter the rush of sound. He twisted, catching one on the shoulder and tossing it into another, then spun back around and caught the third at the neck. Flattening his fingers into a knife he jabbed upwards, grabbed the inside of the face plate and tossed the construct to the ground—

"Chief!"

The Chief snapped back to himself less than a second after Bornstellar's memory had taken hold, but that one second was all the time the Soldier needed to charge forward, hard-light blade in hand. He twisted away at the last possible moment, the slice that had been meant for his neck scoring an inch deep gash in his shoulder plate instead. It tore through his shields like wet paper, draining them in a mere instant, but it had had to get in close, too close. Twisting his arm around he took control of the situation, flattening his hand into a knife and jabbing upwards, grabbing the inside of the face plate. The Soldier roared at him but he didn't care. He threw it to the ground where it landed with a heavy clang and clatter! Before it could teleport away he lifted one leg and stomped down hard, shattering its head in a single blow. The rest of the armor plating faded away as all Prometheans did, leaving nothing but after images behind. The Chief exhaled with a forceful huff, heart racing. Too close.

That had been too close. If the rest of them came at them, or if the Legion turned, things would go sideways in a hurry. He looked at the Soldier holding up the shield with new eyes, watching as it nodded respectfully to him. Human or not, it seemed to be saying, he had defended their Reclaimer. That made them allies and that was all that mattered to it.

The Chief wasn't so sure. Scooping up the fallen Soldier's binary rifle, he shouldered the new weapon and scanned the chamber for targets. There were none left, the Soldiers having taken care of all the lesser Prometheans. They reappeared on the platform in flashes of blue light, weapons in hand. Some had scorch damage on their frames, hard-light having burned across the once pristine silver plating, but they were intact. A blue query light flashed in his visor and he looked up, meeting Cortana's eyes. Pulling his breathing back under control he nodded, flashing a green light in return.

He was fine. Nothing the techs wouldn't be able to fix. At least, nothing they couldn't fix in his armor. Bornstellar's sense of timing was another story. The old Forerunner's presence retreated, contrite, and the Chief allowed himself a quiet sigh. He kept his guard up as he walked back towards Cortana just in time for the screen in front of her to flash blue.

"Got it!" Cortana crowed triumphantly. The orange light in the Guardian's chest turned her soft blue color, an odd juxtaposition to the molten orange glow that filled the chamber. "Powering down now."

A soft groan filled the air. The blue lights that had overtaken the Guardian began to fade, returning it to darkness and sleep. He watched it for a moment before turning his attention to Cortana. She was pushing and pulling at the data on her screen, brow furrowed in concentration.

"Getting anything useful?"

"Plenty. There's some specification files and recordings stored on the thing, but it's more concerning than actually useful. The Guardians were weapons, Chief," Her eyes darted up to meet his, "Forerunner weapons against the galaxy at large."

"For what purpose?" Localized Halo-like pulses? To make sure they'd gotten all the Flood in case a Halo went down? It would make sense to have a back up….but she wouldn't look so concerned if it was something that simple. "They weren't for the Flood, were they?"

"No, they weren't." She made a complicated gesture with one hand and a second screen popped up in front of him, Forerunner glyphs translating in real time. Specs and power readings; these things were capable of blasting with enough force to make a Havok look friendly. If a blast of that magnitude hit the _Infinity,_ even she'd be hardpressed to stay airborne. If they hadn't seen the effects on the _River Bend_ he might have been startled. As it was, his mouth went dry. Cortana continued, "The Forerunners used them to keep troublesome worlds in line. It was how they upheld the Mantle."

The Mantle of Responsibility, of which the Forerunners were masters. He still didn't quite understand what it really all meant; she'd said some sort of socio-political doctrine, or a set of guidelines, but why would that have required such control over worlds not their own? What had they needed to control so badly? No…not what, but who.

"It was how they kept others from taking control of it away from them," He said, and watched understanding dawn on her face. They both looked up to the Guardian with new understanding. "They kept an imperial peace. Step out of line, and the Guardians would take you down."

"Or at least back to the stone age," She finished with a full body shudder. "And there's easily two hundred of these things scattered around the galaxy. If the Didact activates more of them, then." She swallowed hard. "He'd be able to wipe us out. Forget the Composer, we'd be sitting ducks for the Prometheans! All he'd have to do is pull the trigger and then sit back for the fireworks."

They weren't going to let that happen. He stepped up beside her.

"Can you tell where they're going? Is there some kind of rally point they're being directed to?"

"I'm not sure," She replied, data dancing in front of her, "They have slipspace drives in their cores so they could theoretically go anywhere, but there is some navigational data in here. Let me see if I can get anything…"

A shiver went down the Chief's spine: someone was watching him. He turned around, rifle raised and ready. A quick scan of the chamber revealed nothing but the friendly Soldiers on the edges of the platform. They all looked to him, seemingly confused. What had he seen? No, not seen. Sensed.

"Cortana."

She looked at him and instantly went tense. "Scans are clean. Where are you—"

She didn't have time to finish the question. The platform buzzed beneath his boots, systems blaring warnings of immense gravimetric disturbance beneath them. He didn't even have time to call out a warning before a pulse of energy knocked them all from their feet. The Soldiers were sent flying, knocked clean off the edge, while he and Cortana were yanked towards the center of the platform with alarmed shouts. Pain lanced down the Chief's body as his arms were forcibly outstretched, every muscle locking into a rigid position. His rifle dropped from his hand, clattering onto the platform below. The sound was lost beneath thundering, metal-clad footsteps.

"Humanity is as persistent as I recall," the Didact's voice rumbled down John's bones, echoing through his mind and hearing in the same instant. Bornstellar's presence snapped to attention with all the grace of a man falling out of his chair, his surprise warring with John's steadily growing fury. "Even when faced with a losing battle they continue to fight beyond all honor and reason."

"You sure you're not talking about yourself?" Cortana spat. She was trapped beside him, a flicker of blue out of his periphery. John's jaw had been locked down tight by the force exerted on his body, leaving him unable to get a word out. He couldn't tell her to let him handle this. More footsteps sounded behind them, the Didact closing in. If he lay so much as a single finger on Cortana— "We got you once! We can do it again!"

"Yes…" A hint of respect entered the Didact's voice. "You impressed me, ancilla. To cause such destruction even while your own being turned against you is quite remarkable. Your architecture is truly astonishing."

"Flattery's going to get you nowhere!"

The Didact chuckled, the sound slipping down John's spine like slime. With a limping, uneven gait, the ancient Forerunner stepped close enough that John could see him off to one side. The Librarian had said he'd been wounded, but until now they hadn't known just how bad it was. His entire right side was practically destroyed, the arm gone and a metal plate covering where collarbone gave way to shoulder blade, his right leg reduced to mere armor plating. A burst of grief from Bornstellar stole over John, pushing at the edges of his fury. The sight of the once imposing Forerunner in such a state…he shoved it aside, the heat of his anger boiling his insides. He struggled, straining to move anything at all. Fingers twitched, though he couldn't tell if he was doing that or if it was just a spasm. Still struggling to free himself he could only watch as the Didact took slow steps towards Cortana, considering her from all angles.

"It is beyond that of the Composer's creations, beyond that of anything a human could have designed," He said, eyeing her like she was a piece of meat. John clenched his jaw so tightly his ears began to ring. "You are Forerunner now…I see."

With a twitch of his six-fingered hand, the Didact dismissed Cortana's helmet. Not bound by the same muscular systems that John was she bared her teeth at the Didact, snarling furiously.

"Clearly you went and forgot your manners in that Cryptum," She snapped, "You don't undress a lady without asking first!"

The Didact paid her fury no mind. He circled her, looking her up and down as if searching for something. In the Chief's HUD, a warning flickered. _Force-multiplication limitations disabled._ A blue light flashed in the corner a half second later, a _what are you waiting for?_ if he'd ever heard one. Cortana.

She was stalling the Didact, giving him a chance to escape and attack. He wasn't going to waste it.

"So, this was the Librarian's plan all along." The Didact said as if she hadn't spoken at all, his back still to John. John seized the opportunity and began to try and pull himself free of the gravimetric disturbance, ignoring the bolts of pain that seared through his body as the suit pulled him along more than he pulled it. "To offer everything the Forerunners built, everything we created, to one created by humans." The Didact hissed low in anger and disgust. "As if altering your architecture could ever make you worthy of the Mantle."

"You can take that Mantle and shove it up your ass," Cortana spat, buying him precious seconds. "Did you ever stop to think that maybe we don't want the stupid thing?! You could have just left us alone and that would have been the end of it!"

"And allow humanity to taint the galaxy as they once did? To continue to spread across the stars and destroy everything in their path? No." The Didact shook his head. John kept pulling, entire body screaming at him to stop. He couldn't stop. He was nearly there! Just a few more inches— "I have seen what they do to their own people, ancilla. If they are allowed to continue in such a way, the galaxy itself will fall. My duty is clear."

Almost…almost—

"If humanity cannot be contained, they are to be burned from the stars."

Everything stopped. Even Bornstellar, his presence shifting back and forth as he paced helplessly at the edge of John's mind, stopped. They all stared at the Didact, his meaning clear. Cortana had gone pale with shock.

"Halo."

"Yes." The Didact replied with the air of someone talking about the weather and not the destruction of all sentient life. "Stronger means than the Composer have proven necessary. Humanity's destruction will be a kindness they do not deserve."

Before Cortana could respond a flash of blue light up the Didact's back. He stumbled forward, nearly crashing into Cortana, before he whipped around to find one of Cortana's Soldiers with binary rifle in hand, the muzzle still smoking. The Didact blinked, snarled, and took a step forward, only for the Soldier to vanish. In the same instant the gravimetric disturbance shut off; with it broken they dropped to the platform, the Chief up and on his feet in an instant. There was no time to grab for his rifle, no time to think about how to handle the Didact in close quarters. He pulled his combat knight from the sheath on his thigh, shoved past his cycling systems, and leapt up onto the Didact's shoulder! The ancient Forerunner turned at the last possible moment and the Chief stabbed his knife clean into his eye! The Didact shouted in pain and rage, moving too fast for the Chief to track.

"Chief!"

Cortana's scream filled the air as the Didact got a hand on the Chief's head, snatching him off his shoulder and yanking him around. The muscles in his neck screamed at the rough treatment; had it not been for his armor, the Chief knew his neck would have been broken in that instant. He reached up, struggling to break free, but the Didact's grip was too strong. He clawed uselessly at the armored forearm holding him up, the palm of a six-fingered hand blocking all but the corners of his vision. His systems screamed at him, warning him of a growing pressure on the exterior plating of his helmet. He was being squeezed to death!

"Consistently I am presented with the chance to eliminate you," the Didact snarled, violet blood streaming down the eye socket of his helmet where the Chief's knife had gone in deep. Not deep enough, it seemed. "And yet foolishly I refuse to take it. No longer."

Titanium alloy _cracked_ as the Didact squeezed harder. The visor shattered half an instant later, reinforced materials breaking into razor sharp shards that sliced through his skin, the systems going silent. Padding and armor plating pressed inwards towards his skull; he didn't need the systems to run the math for him. Another few seconds and it'd be his own skull shattering, not just his visor. He continued to claw and kick, struggling with all the strength he had. Without any HUD or readings in the way, John stared at the Didact and knew this was to be his end.

Not yet. Not today. He wasn't ready.

Neither was Cortana. With a scream fit to tear the stars from the heavens she opened fire on the Didact, four Soldiers adding their weapons to hers. The Didact turned on her and threw the Chief in the same instant, forcing them to scatter or be landed on. Blue flashed past him, his suit broken and unresponsive. Without the VISR system his armor was little more than titanium plating, useless to slow his uncontrolled momentum. He landed hard, bouncing off the platform in a clatter of plating. Lightshot continued to fire, the Soldiers distracting the Didact, but it didn't matter. He couldn't get his suit to respond! There was no time to try and anchor himself; still spinning he soared over the edge of the platform, reaching out to try and grab it—

"Chief!"

Two hands closed around his wrist, catching him at the last second. His shoulder screamed at the sudden stop, weight pulling it clean out of the socket. He grit his teeth against the pain and looked up, two Soldiers all that kept Cortana from falling over the edge with him. Orange light began to glow behind her, the Guardian restored to the Didact's control. Small blue sparks warred against it, the Didact handily holding off her Soldiers. The platform—no, the entire cavern—shook. The Guardian was coming online.

"Cortana—"

"Shut up!" She snapped, voice thick with the strain of holding him up, "I'm not—I'm not going to let go!"

Another chunk of glass and stone slammed onto the platform somewhere behind her. The Didact made a startled noise as it shook, broken free from a mooring. It tilted precariously and she slid forward, the Soldiers attempting to brace her. They couldn't hold this position and she knew it. Still holding on with all her strength, she commanded the Soldiers to pull her back. They didn't hesitate, wrapping their arms around her middle and pulling her, pulling him, back up from certain death. As soon as he could grasp the platform with his other hand he clambered back up, heart racing. Too close! That had been too close! As if sensing his foe had survived the Didact turned around. The Chief prepared to move, prepared to shove Cortana clear, but there was no need.

Seizing on the moment of distraction, the remaining Soldiers lunged at the Didact. Three massive Prometheans caught him around the middle; before he could fight them off they all tumbled through the light in the Guardian's chest, vanishing through to wherever the portal would go. They were gone, but the threat hadn't gone with them. The chamber rocked and shuddered, the Guardian's wings beginning to pull free of the stone that had once held it prisoner. This whole place was about to come down!

"We need to move!"

"Don't wait around on my account!" Cortana clambered to her feet, nearly knocked back down by another tremor before he steadied her. "I rerouted the teleporter to take us to the surface! Come on!"

There was no time to think. The pair of them ran for it just as another chunk of rock and glass broke loose overhead. The Chief looked up, tracked its descent, and threw himself forward at Cortana. Trusting him she went limp; he twisted in mid-motion, pulling her into his arms and throwing them both through the teleporter right before the stone could knock it into the lava. They came out still moving, blasting through a hurried evacuation. The Chief twisted again, pulling her closer against his chest as they skidded down a glass covered hill just inside the main gate. His body screamed at him for the rough treatment and he ignored it, stopping their slide with a hand. They both looked up and around, taking in the chaos.

The _Infinity_ had arrived and now blue-lined Soldiers fought alongside Marines and Spartans as they tried to buy the colonists time to escape. Colony security was rushing miners and civilians to the space elevator in bunches, firing wild potshots at the Didact's Promethean forces. The ground shook, unseating him, and Cortana swore fiercely.

"It's on the move," She said, throwing a channel wide open, "Cortana to all hands! Get away from the mine—repeat, get away from the mine entrance! It's going to collapse!"

It already had. A massive plume of dust and silicates rose from the north section of the settlement, the mine having imploded as the Guardian pulled itself free. Setting Cortana down the Chief reached up to his dislocated shoulder and snapped it back into the place, the sharp pain stealing his breath for half a second. With both arms in a usable state he got to his feet. Cortana remained at his side, calling a light rifle and pressing it into his hands.

"Come on," She said, "We've gotta go!"

The Chief's insides twisted. They had failed to stop the Guardian, failed to stop the Didact, and now Meridian was going to fall. This was a battle he couldn't win. The best he could do now was help the civilians escape.

Gritting his teeth he turned to follow her, the ground trembling beneath their feet. A Sergeant caught sight of them and ordered them back towards the space elevator where all forces were to meet up and evacuate to the _Infinity_ , but anything else the man had been going to say was lost beneath a sudden roar that shook the air. More mechanical than animal it rattled through his bones, a horn mixed with a klaxon. He'd never heard anything like it before, but it was somehow familiar.

There was no time to think about it. Without warning Cortana dropped to her knees with a scream of agony, freezing his heart still.

"Cortana!"

"Stop it!" She shouted, not at him but at something else. Her voice was distorted, Rampant, and for half a second her frame wavered. "Stop it!"

He dropped beside her, hooking an arm around her middle and hauling her back to her feet. She clung to him, trying to hide away in his armor, but the sound came again and she almost collapsed. He held her close, useless, unable to do anything, and nearly lost his footing when the world cracked beneath their feet. His systems blared alarms: motion detected to the north. People turned and shouted in alarm.

"Holy shit!"

"The hell is that?!"

"Watch out!"

The Chief turned around, watching in horror as the Guardian rose above the settlement, pieces of stone falling away from its massive wings. It was even bigger out in the open, with a wingspan half as long as the _Infinity_. Its head was at least as big as a Mammoth and it looked down at them, a beam of orange energy scanning the evacuation. Prometheans hurried out of the way, vanishing from sight, and the Soldiers did the same. Not finding what it was looking for the Guardian made that strange noise a third time, leaving Cortana screaming again, hands over her ears even with her helmet in the way.

"Cortana, what's it doing?!"

"It's—overwhelming my systems!" She shouted, every word broken by the same electronic distortion that had almost claimed her during her Rampancy. His blood ran cold. "I can't—Chief I can't—"

"You can!" He pulled her back to look at him, "How do we stop it?"

"We can't!"

Over their heads, the Guardian continued to rise. It paid no attention to them or the chaos it was causing, drifting past the settlement on its way up. Marines shouted orders, hurrying people away from the edge. Cortana stared after it, pale and trembling in his grasp.

"It's going to," her voice wavered, "It'll go into Slipspace…it's going to—"

She couldn't finish the thought. She didn't have to. Without his radio he couldn't throw open the band to shout the command, but he had to try. "All hands, brace positions! Slipspace rupture in atmosphere!"

The order was instantly passed down the chain. Civilians shouted as they were grabbed by Marines and Spartans alike, pulled behind whatever cover they could find. The Guardian rose up past the space elevator, blue energy forming in its chest. Visible pulses rang out, washing over them like shockwaves. The Chief was nearly knocked off his feet by the first one, thrown off balance; he barely kept his footing, barely kept hold of Cortana. She screeched, sobbing in agony; they went down to their knees, her hands scrabbling for anything to hold onto until they found his and squeezed tight, desperate for an anchor. Helpless to make it stop, he pulled her into his arms.

"It's okay," he said to her, though it wasn't anywhere near okay, "I've got you, you're going to be fine—"

Another pulse rocked him forward. He looked up past the failure state warnings of his systems, unable to do anything but watch as a massive slipspace rupture tore open the sky. The Guardian slipped backwards through it, leaving the world behind. Another cry to brace rang out, Marines shouting at the tops of their lungs, and then—the portal closed.

With all the force of a bomb, the pressure difference ripped through the atmosphere. Metal screeched, torn loose from its moorings. People screamed as the shockwave rushed over them, sending bodies flying and anything not nailed down skidding across the glassy hills. The Chief was knocked to his knees, Cortana still in his arms, and he jammed a fist into the glass. Sharp edges pressed into his palm through his techsuit but he didn't care. He held firm, trying to wait it out. They just had to wait it out!

There was no time to wait it out. Ripped free of its moorings, the space elevator wobbled beneath its own weight. It rocked, twisting, and then with a deafening shriek finally began to fall. The Chief's heart skipped three beats in rapid succession, tracking its angle of descent. It was going to fall right on top of them! Forcing his body to the limit he threw them forward out of the way, curling around Cortana's slighter frame. She'd gone still and silent but there was no time to look after her. Throwing them behind a rise of glass he ducked low, shielding her from anything that would happen next.

The space elevator hit ground with an earth shattering crash. Chunks of silicates exploded in all directions, larger pieces crashing to earth; one bounced off his back, nearly knocking him over, and an instant later a cloud of deep gray dust swept over them. With his helmet half destroyed he had no rebreather; puffs of finely ground glass and dirt snuck in through the hole in his visor, snaking their way down his throat. The cloud grew thicker and thicker, darkness falling over him. Fine particulate scraped across his armor, wedging into the joints and destroying the finer workings, but he didn't care. So long as Cortana was safe he would be fine. He would stay like this for an eternity it meant keeping her safe!

It felt like it was an eternity before the cloud cleared up, leaving them in the stillness and quiet that only came after a massive explosion. His armor creaked, moving stiffly. The Chief lifted his head, looking out over the destroyed settlement. All that was left was glass, torn scaffolding and prefabs and mining equipment scattered across what had once been a settlement of over five thousand people. Faint screams began to reach him from a great distance, survivors thrown hundreds of meters in all directions. The space elevator was gone, the tether and cowling looming behind him like a wall. He looked from it down to Cortana in his arms.

"Cortana?"

No response. Her hands no longer gripped his chestplate. Moving slowly, careful not to pinch her limbs between the plates, he relaxed his grip. She'd have fallen if he hadn't been holding her, limp and unresponsive. A cold hand squeezed around his heart, his breath catching.

"Cortana, respond."

No answer. Holding her in the crook of one arm, he gently pried her helmet off. Her head lolled in his palm, neck limp. There was no color in her face, no light. Her eyes were closed. She was—

No. No!

"Cortana!"

Nothing. No signs of life, no electric hum beneath his palm as he cupped her cheek. She was hurt, mortally wounded, but this was something no medpack would fix. Infinity. He had to get her back to _Infinity_. Roland would know what to do, or he'd make them get Halsey a second time. He could fix this—she wasn't going to die!

Still holding her close, John struggled to his feet. Her head lolled against his shoulder, the ever present buzz beneath her skin gone silent. His mouth had gone dry, lips cracked by the fine, sharp edges of the silicate dust that had blown through. None of that mattered. She was the only important thing now. He turned, heart racing, and looked for a way to the ship.

There was nothing but destruction and death. They'd failed to stop this. They'd failed.

He'd failed.

"Over here!" Someone shouted and he looked up to the top of what had once been the elevator. Fireteam Osiris was clambering up and over the ruined column, hands scrabbling along the smooth surface, "They're over here! We found them! Chief—!" Buck shouted down at him, "Stay there! We'll come and get you!"

What else could he do? Failure—to protect Cortana, to protect Meridian—settled in over his shoulders.

Closing his eyes, John could do nothing but wait for help to come.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So in 5 Vale makes a point of saying "this colony's about to become a crater" during the Meridian evac mission, and we've seen in-atmo slipspace closures destroying more built up infrastructure (H2, ODST, and H2A, New Mombasa) but the Guardian leaving doesn't take down even the space elevator it's right next to? Gimme a break, devs; if you're gonna make these things so powerful, at least show up to the fight!


	11. Chapter 11

There was no Medbay for a wounded AI. No doctors standing by with life-saving treatments or quick fixes, no surgery to repair what had been broken and no bandages for wounds that didn't physically exist. There was only waiting, hoping, and sitting uselessly as John could do little more than either.

For all his training, for all his skills, he was a weapon. He wasn't a medic, he wasn't an engineer, he wasn't trained in search and rescue. The best he could do for any of Meridian's survivors was stay out of the way and let them be tended to first. All he'd wanted was a ride back up _Infinity_ so the techs could tend to Cortana, and he'd gotten that. He could wait.

He would wait. Locke had taken one look at him, broken armor and broken partner, and all but shoved him on the Pelican with the most critically wounded patients. The medics had been too busy saving lives to care, though he'd done the best he could to make himself as small as possible in a corner of a troop bay, watching them try to save a man from bleeding out on the floor. Failure had set its teeth in him then and hadn't stopped shaking since. This was his fault. If he'd been able to stop the Didact the first time none of this would have happened. Vestige II would still be there, the crew of the _River Bend_ would still be alive, and Meridian wouldn't be a mass grave for her people.

Cortana wouldn't be lying lifelessly on a metal table in a borrowed S-Deck tech lab like some forgotten corpse in a morgue. She'd be safe.

This was on him.

"Yeesh, Cor wasn't kidding about being able to hear you think at five klicks." Roland's voice came from the podium beside the table. John lifted his head slowly; Roland looked nearly as exhausted as John himself, his color faded to storm cloud gray with only the barest hint of gold in his core. His jacket and flight cap were missing, his hair standing in sweaty spikes. His eyes were still kind as he said, "This wasn't your fault, Chief."

It was. But he was in no mood to get into that discussion, not even with Cortana herself, and so he looked away. His techsuit creaked, still leaking silicates from the crevices. They'd had to pry him out of his armor; it had taken a blowtorch and a good fifteen minutes to free him from the helmet alone, the rest a complete wash from the glass that had torn through it. They'd tried to insist he go to Medical, get himself checked out, but he refused to leave her alone. Not while she was so vulnerable. Roland sighed quietly.

"Her self-repair system is entirely online," He said, "And it's giving an ETA of sometime in the next two hours. She's gonna be fine."

"Hm."

Roland made a frustrated noise and tried again. "Okay, listen, we both know how stubborn Cor is. She'll be fine—hell, she's run with you for months! If that didn't make her stubborn enough to survive anything, nothing will."

_One of these days you're gonna land on somethin' as stubborn as you are! And I don't do bits and pieces._

No. He had faith in her. She'd survived the Gravemind, Rampancy, the Didact. She'd survive this. His grip on his hands tightened.

"I know."

"It doesn't sound like you know…" Roland shook his head, stopping as the door to the lab slid open. John jerked his head up and was on his feet in an instant as Captain Lasky stepped into the room. There was a mug of still steaming coffee in one hand and he raised the other.

"At ease, Chief," He said, stepping in so the door would slide shut, "I'm just here to check in. You can relax."

"Sir." As if he could relax while she was lying there, so still and so cold. He sat back down on the edge of the table. Captain Lasky looked her up and down with the same care as when he looked over any other wounded soldier, the same concern pulling at the edges of his expression, before he looked to the Chief and held out the cup. Dark and rich, he could smell the bitter grinds from here. Too bitter for his tastes, and his stomach roiled at the thought of taking in anything right now. He still took the mug, the warmth seeping past his techsuit. Roland snapped out a salute and vanished in a flash, leaving them alone. "How are things on Meridian?"

"Not good." Lasky said with a sigh, pulling the rolling desk chair over. He dropped into it and scrubbed a hand over his head. John picked out the dark circles beneath his eyes, the deepened wrinkles on his brow. Things hadn't gotten any easier since they'd left for Vestige. "Last census put their population at just under fifty two hundred. We've accounted for forty-five hundred so far, and…" He sighed heavily. "We're looking at a ninety percent fatality rate. Odds are it won't go much lower."

A ten percent survival rate. It was nine percent higher than most planet-level engagements with the Covenant had been but it was still so low! His grip on the mug tightened, tin creaking beneath his fingers. He forced himself to relax before he punched a hole through it.

"How're you holding up?" Lasky asked, the sudden softness in his voice startling John into looking up. He smiled tiredly. "…It's been a long time since anyone's asked you that, hasn't it?"

John looked at Cortana. Just her, he thought. Halsey had asked once, six months ago, but since then…status requests, medical reports…no one had asked how he was doing, only how to keep their weapon in working order. And he was. A weapon. A weapon for humanity to fire against the threats it faced, but. He'd missed. He'd failed. He swallowed hard, sour bile crawling up his throat.

"Fine, sir."

"Would she buy that?"

John closed his eyes. "No." But then, she knew him better than anyone else. Shifting the mug to one hand he reached over, cautiously laying his hand on top of hers. She didn't respond, didn't twitch. Hopefully she was having good dreams. He looked back to the Captain, a cold hand squeezing his heart at the soft look on Lasky's face. "It's nothing."

For a few seconds, Lasky said nothing. Then he took a slow breath and leaned in, hands clasped between his knees. "Chief, what happened down there—it's not your fault. Either of you. You know that, right?"

"Our orders were to eliminate the threat. We failed."

"You weren't prepared—" He held up a hand as John opened his mouth, stalling any protest, "—Not for a threat on that level. You knew it was possible the Didact would be there, but coming face to face with him is a different story. You shouldn't have had to go up against him without us. I'm sorry."

He didn't know what to say to that. What could he say to that? A lump swelled in his throat, refusing to go back down. Lasky watched him sympathetically, leaning back in his borrowed chair.

"No one's ever told you that either, have they."

It wasn't a question this time, but they both already knew the answer and looked to Cortana. She slumbered on, unaware of the struggle for words going on in John's mind. She'd have already known what to say to calm the Captain's concerns, make him drop the subject that sat so heavily between them with a lightened conscience. John didn't even know where to start. All he had was a planet he'd failed to save, a partner he'd failed to protect, and a threat he'd failed to eliminate.

Maybe there had been some truth to Captain Del Rio's comments about an aging Spartan after all. He shook off the thought and looked back to Captain Lasky.

"Our duty as soldiers is to protect humanity, whatever the cost. We don't need apologies, sir."

Lasky blinked, staring at him. He'd said the wrong thing, John realized, or at least something Lasky hadn't expected to hear. He stared for a few more seconds and then slowly shook his head.

"You say that like soldiers and humanity are two different things. Soldiers aren't machines—you're not a machine, Chief," He said, "You're as human as everyone else on this ship."

_Before this is all over, promise me you'll figure out which one of us is the machine._

Was he? Where was the line drawn between machine and not? What made someone human? Philosophy had never been his favorite subject. He knew the physical definition, where the line was drawn between organic and inorganic, but human? He still hadn't figured that part out yet. He wasn't sure he ever could. Lasky's expression grew soft and sympathetic. John could see no pity, at least, which was good. He didn't know how to deal with pity.

The Captain rubbed the back of his neck, struggling to find the words. Silence fell over the lab for a few long, tense seconds. John stared into his rapidly cooling coffee, used to the quiet but not to this. He wished Cortana was awake to know what to say.

"You not knowing that is our fault, too," Lasky said after nearly a minute had passed. John looked up to meet his gaze as he continued, "We relied on you, on the Spartans, to win our battles for so long that no one ever bothered to ask how it was affecting you. We still haven't. You were out there fighting aliens that career soldiers couldn't take down and you were no older than an academy student. How much did humanity ask of you without thinking about how it would affect you?"

He couldn't have this discussion. "Sir—"

"No." The Captain said, "I know. It's classified. And I don't mean to bring up bad memories." He took a deep breath and leaned over once again, even though this meant he had to look up to hold John's eyes. "I'm saying that if you ever need to talk, my door is open. I can deal in hypotheticals with the best of them."

He'd never take that offer. Not only for the redactions to his file, but because he couldn't. Being a Spartan was all he knew. Without it, without him and his siblings, there would be no humanity. He'd long since accepted that. It was just his life. How could he even begin to explain that normality when no one else could understand it? It would be like asking the Captain to explain the normality of his own life. There were things you just…knew. Still, the offer came from a place of kindness. He could be grateful for that.

"Thank you, sir."

Lasky nodded. With a soft groan he levered himself out of the borrowed chair.

"I need to get back to the bridge. When she wakes up, tell her I strongly suggest she stop scaring you." A wry smile crossed his face, one hand coming up to gesture around his temples. "You're already going gray."

A tiny bubble of amusement popped against the chill in John's chest. With one last look over at Cortana, the Captain headed out of the room. Silence returned, Roland not bothering to come back, and John was left alone with his thoughts. He stared into the still surface of the coffee, watching the reflection of the overhead light. He couldn't help Cortana, not with this, not now, and so he forced his thoughts elsewhere.

There was no doubt in his mind that they would face the Didact again. When they did, how would they stop him? He was organic, durable, well trained and skilled. He had thousands of years of combat experience and the skill to use that experience, along with the annoying gravimetric disturbance generator. So long as that was active, getting in close wouldn't be a viable option.

His entire head ached at the thought. He resisted the urge to rub his temples, turning over a few possible ideas. Sticking to long range would be best. Line up a few snipers or bombard him with missiles. One of them would leave a body to be sure of, the other would turn him into a smear in the crater. Not for the first time he found himself wishing his team was here. Linda would have been able to take his head at five klicks and then they could blow him up. It would be the easiest option, though John would have preferred to get in close and break the Forerunner's neck himself.

What the Didact had done to Earth, to Vestige II, to Meridian, to any other human colonies he'd awoken Guardians on made him a target. What he'd nearly done to Cortana made it personal. He could still remember the flash of light as the plinth he had just removed her chip from had been blasted into nothing more than ash and embers. Half a second, less than half a second, and she wouldn't—

With a forceful exhale he wrestled the thought back down. It was over and done. What mattered now was taking the Didact down in the fastest, cleanest manner possible. Bornstellar's presence shifted in the back of his mind, pushing forth another flash of memory: watching armor plating fold back up into the distribution node pressed to the spinal column. Power and commands to the armor flowed through there. Strike that and the armor would have to reset itself, giving them a precious second in which to act. He swallowed hard around a suddenly dry mouth.

 _Thank you_ , he thought, trying to reach out. Bornstellar reached out in return, presence shifting to extend a proverbial hand, but the resulting stab of pain through John's skull made him close his eyes. By the time the spike had faded away, Bornstellar had retreated, leaving him alone in his mind again. He had no time to dwell on it before a soft blue light lit the room, the faintest of electrical hums whirring to life. Quick as a flash John whipped around, coffee splashing as he dropped the tin cup. He didn't care about that; his focus was on Cortana, her eyes squeezed shut.

"Cortana?"

She whimpered softly. She was awake! Relief tried to sink into his bones but he didn't let it, not yet. Not until he was sure she was alright. He leaned over her, his larger frame blocking the light. Sensing his covering darkness she cracked open one eye, then the other. Color bled up her throat, tiny strands of light starting their course up and down her body with it. Her systems were rebooting and she was awake. The cold grip around his heart began to let go.

"Hey."

"Hey," She croaked, squinting at him. "You look as bad as I feel." She lifted a trembling hand to his face, gently laying it along his cheek. The pads of her fingers slid across the myriad of small cuts from his shattered visor; her warmth was gone, but he leaned into her touch all the same. "How does that work?"

"Rough day." He looked down at her softly, finally allowing the relief to flow through him. It would have made his limbs shake if he'd left it, but his focus was entirely on her. She'd closed her eyes again, expression pinched. Carefully, cautiously, he shifted his weight onto one arm, maneuvering the other to cradle her head in his palm. She sighed and began to relax. "Better?"

"Mm-hmm. Did we get the plate from that Mammoth that rammed me?"

"No," He said, grateful that she was aware enough to kid around. "But I got a look at the driver. We'll catch up with him sooner or later."

"Good. I've got some stern words for him when we do." A smile flickered across her face, then vanished as she asked, "How long was I out?"

"Two hours." Two long, tired hours. He watched as her color continued to return, the gray slowly being replaced by blue. The buzz beneath her skin was coming back, too. Now that he could see for himself that she would be alright, he let the exhaustion that had been dogging him settle across his back; his head and shoulders began to complain about what they'd been through, but he ignored them with the ease of long practice. She needed him more. "Are you." No. No, that wasn't right. He swallowed, tried again. "How are you?"

"Sore. I wasn't kidding about that Mammoth." She snorted darkly. "I'm guessing Meridian's no better."

A ten percent survival rate. "No. We lost it. The Guardian got away, too."

"Not entirely," She said, opening her eyes. Tired as she seemed, determination was what furrowed her brow this time. "Help me up."

"Are you sure that's a good idea?"

"I can finish repairs just as easily sitting up as laying down. Besides, we don't have time for me to be lazy." She gathered herself, hands coming down on either side. He slipped his arm beneath her shoulders as she began to push, helping her to sit up. She swayed and would have fallen back down if not for his arm around her, which made him lift an eyebrow. She grumbled at him. "Don't give me that look. You don't have a monopoly on going against medical advice." Her eyes darted to the largest cut on his forehead. "Did you even get any?"

"It's nothing," He said, and when she raised an unconvinced eyebrow he shrugged his better shoulder. "Head wounds always bleed a lot."

"Chief…" She reached up again, gently resting her fingers on the side of his face. He hadn't even taken a moment to wash off the dried blood; it cracked beneath her touch, flaking away. "There's a first aid kit in here somewhere. Do me a favor and go get it?"

There was no need for that. He was fine. "Cortana…"

"Chief." She lifted the other eyebrow. "We're not behind enemy lines any more. You can take five minutes and patch yourself up before anything else goes sideways."

Could he? He wasn't sure. But he didn't want her to worry, so he levered himself up off the table. The kit was easy enough to find, being that it was bolted to the wall and a glaring red against the sterile white and pale gray of the lab walls. It came loose with a tug, the lid popping open. Prepackaged dressings and alcohol wipes shifted in their compartments, sliding back and forth. He set it on the table, unsure where to start. Medics cleaned wounds before dressing them. Wipe, then bandage? What kind did he need? He huffed quietly to himself; things were easier with biofoam…

"Here," Cortana took pity on him, taking an alcohol wipe from the kit. "Let me?"

He didn't say anything. He simply sat back down where she could reach, letting her take his head into one gentle hand. The cleansing solution soaked into the wipe stung the thin cuts as she carefully wiped away the dry blood and cleaned the wounds with a light touch, careful not to cause any more damage. She was always taking care of him even when it cost her. The memory of her lifeless in his arms flashed across his mind's eye before he could push it back. If they faced another Guardian, would that happen again? He couldn't let it. Letting her fight her own battles was one thing, but sending her into that kind of danger was another. If they went after another one, she'd have to stay behind.

Telling her that was going to be a mess. He glanced sidelong at her and found her brow furrowed, her eyes distant. It wasn't just concentration on patching him up that kept her from speaking. He knew that look. She was thinking too hard again. He set his concerns aside for the moment.

"You're not thinking about what the Didact said, are you?" Obviously she was. The threat of the Halos being fired was on his mind, too, but everything else… "He was just trying to get to you."

"He didn't say anything I hadn't already thought of myself, Chief." She set down the used wipe and rummaged through the kit. "And he wasn't wrong. My architecture has changed—half of my code is Forerunner, not human. It's the only reason I can access the Domain, but apparently…" She shook her head. "Apparently I'm not Forerunner enough to be immune to their tech, or UNSC enough to be who I was before. To tell you the truth—" She stopped, took a breath, continued in a smaller voice, "To tell you the truth, I don't know who I am anymore."

"You're—"

"Still me. I know." Another smile flickered across her face, there and gone as she plucked a butterfly bandage out of the kit. "And I appreciate your faith in me, but who is that? Who am _I_? If you believe the Librarian, I'm supposed to reclaim the lost technology of the Forerunners and use it to aid humanity. If you believe the Warden, I'm supposed to abandon humanity for some greater cause." She snorted quietly, pressing the bandage into place. "I bet the brass would love that."

It didn't matter what the brass thought. All that mattered was her. As much as the last few days had changed things, she hadn't changed. She was still the same person he'd ridden with for weeks, the same person who'd helped to end a war, the same person who joked around with him and treated him like a person, not a weapon. She was his partner. He knew who she was, and deep down so did she. She just needed to be reminded of that.

"It doesn't matter what they want you to do," He said quietly, meeting her gaze. "What you want to do, what you choose to do…that's what makes you who you are."

She stared at him, speechless for a long few seconds, before she huffed out a laugh and tipped forward to rest her head on his shoulder. Wetting his dry lips he carefully tilted his head until his cheek rested against her hair. She was warm again. He closed his eyes.

"One of these days you're going to have to tell me how you always know what to say," She murmured, "Have you been reading philosophy books while I wasn't looking?"

No. He just knew her. "You never know. Maybe five years in cryo turned me into a philosopher."

"Hmm, I wouldn't quit my day job if I were you," She teased lightly, already moving. As much as he wanted to stay like this for a little longer, he knew what was coming next and let her up. "Speaking of, I already know where that Guardian went. Here—" Shifting position she brought her hands up, a twisting motion activating a hologram of the Janus Map. She zoomed out to a full view of the Milky Way, a blinking red dot at the far edge of the Carina-Sagittarius arm. It took a moment for him to realize what he was looking at.

"You tracked the Guardian while you were out?"

"No. I put a tracker in that specific Guardian's code before the Didact left with it," She said with a half smile, "And I still have tabs on the Soldiers that took off with the Didact. All four signals and his are coming from here, which happens to be another Forerunner planet itself." She rolled her eyes. The red blinking stopped, the marker expanding in size so they could read the glyphs around its edge. _Builder_ and _Gateway_ were the easiest for him to read, though Bornstellar had little more than that to offer. "Guess they couldn't stop at just one."

Something told him that the Forerunners had never really learned the meaning of restraint. He could relate. "That's clear across the galaxy. Why build it so far away from the empire?"

"Hiding it, maybe, though I don't know why. All I'm getting is a name: Genesis."

The beginning. A beginning. John frowned. Genesis. Builder—that was a caste in the Forerunner system—and Gateway. A Gateway to where? The Guardians could easily use slipspace so it was hardly like they needed someone to open the door for them. It wasn't a forge to make more, so maybe…he tilted his head, thoughts turning and twisting over and over.

"This glyph," He tapped it, and when she confirmed his translation he added, "Could it mean some sort of portal network hub? A gateway to other places?"

"Maybe," She frowned. "I'm not getting any references in what I have access to. Does your roommate know anything?"

Only that he didn't want to go that far away from the empire's edges. Nothing good came of the edges of space. John had to agree with him on that.

"Nothing useful." He considered the hazy white dot and what he knew about Forerunner technology. Maybe it was another Portal to reach the Ark through? But if that was the case, and the Didact really was after another firing of the Array, why not just go through and be done with it? Why bother bringing any Guardians online at all? It didn't make sense. "We're running blind."

"So it's a Monday," Cortana sighed, closing her fist and dismissing the map. "Nothing new there. We do know where he's going to end up, at least." She glanced up at him and with a snap of her fingers formed a holographic coin between them. "I'll flip you for who has to tell the Captain that little detail."

John almost huffed out a laugh despite himself. He'd had enough of coin flips to last him a lifetime. She knew that and her innocent _who, me?_ smile didn't work at all. He gently jostled her with his shoulder; the coin vanished as she threw her legs over the edge of the table.

"Maybe next time," He said.

"And maybe next time we can—"

She cut herself off as two things happened at once: Roland appeared on the plinth, and Commander Palmer came striding through the door with purpose.

"Oh, good," She said, "You're both up."

"Commander, I was trying to tell you—"

"Ah!" The Commander cut Roland off, prompting him to frown, "No time for chatter. We're needed in the comms room. Double time."

John and Cortana exchanged a glance, unsure. She shrugged up to her ears even as she hopped off the table, half a step behind him. The Commander was already out of the lab and halfway down the hall by the time they caught up. Even he had to jog to keep pace with her.

"Commander," Cortana called out, "What's happening?"

"FLEETCOM called," She called back, "And they want answers."

* * *

"They've already seen the footage from your armor-cams," Palmer continued as they approach the comms rooms, "But they want your explanation of things to go with it. All seven admirals will be sitting in on this one."

"All seven?" Cortana's eyes went wide. She'd have understood Lord Hood himself but the rest of the Admiralty Board as well? Oh, this was just perfect! "Do we have five seconds to get dressed or should I just go out like this?"

"You already know where the cameras are," the Commander replied, too busy to be snarky. "Just hang back and let some, I dunno, some hologram avatar handle things. Think you can do that?"

"Of course."

She'd have to. Explaining the new status quo to the seven members of the Admiralty, especially given that one of them was Admiral Osman, was not something she wanted to do while still under repair. The lingering soreness was a pulsating ache through her frame as she nearly had to run to keep pace with the Commander. John had slowed his stride to not pull ahead of her and he offered her an arm when Palmer finally slowed down. She nodded, leaning on him to catch her proverbial breath and reset her few struggling processes. Good grief…one good knock to the head and she was all but useless! Now she understood how humans felt.

"Straighten up," the Commander ordered, "We're going in."

As if this were a battle and not a debriefing. As if they hadn't done thousands of these over the years. Still, Cortana straightened her spin and nodded; John jostled her arm with his and stepped in behind the Commander, using his bulk to hide Cortana from view until she stepped just to the side of the door, out of range of the transmission camera on the right hand wall. Cortana took a second to look around.

The secure comms room was one of six on the _Infinity_ , a decently sized room with a conference holo-table, cameras mounted to the walls for a three hundred and sixty degree view of the holo-platform bolted to the floor, and a view screen mounted above the table. The UNSC eagle rotated on the screen, waiting for Captain Lasky to initiate the connection. He glanced at her, then gestured to the table. Roland waved from his perch, her former avatar standing beside him. She reached out to its process and stepped inside, blinking at the odd sensation of having two sets of inputs again. Huh. Less than a week and she'd gotten used to her own eyes and ears. She wondered what that said about it.

"Connection secure," Roland said. Captain Lasky took a breath, adjusted his lapel, then nodded.

"Open the channel."

Instantly the image on the screen shifted. It went from the blank screensaver common to all UNSC screens to a split screen image of the seven Admirals of FLEETCOM. They weren't all in Sydney, it seemed, and had borrowed or taken secure comms rooms of their own. Her eyes darted from Admiral to Admiral, taking in the frowns on their faces. Admiral Osman's eyes were dark with something she couldn't quite name, but at the end of the display, Lord Hood looked directly at John.

"Master Chief," He greeted pleasantly, "How's the head, son?"

"It's fine, sir," John replied, though they both knew it wasn't. Lord Hood seemed to know as well because he gave a minute shake of his head. John slipped back into the proverbial armor and asked, "Have you all been debriefed, Admirals?"

"We've all seen the footage, Master Chief," Admiral Holt spoke up from the other end of the display, her mousy brown curls wild around her head. She must have run her hands through them a million times. "But I'm afraid none of us have quite made sense of it. The Didact was able to singlehandedly take down our strongest Spartan? How is that even possible?"

"On more solid ground we might have had him, Admiral," Cortana said through her avatar, "But the fact remains that he's a Forerunner with incredible strength and tactical knowledge. In a hand to hand fight, it's highly possible he could handle even a complete Fireteam of Spartan II's."

Admiral Osman's eyes narrowed. Cortana watched her warily; even if the woman hadn't ordered them watched, there was something about that expression that was setting off alarm bells.

"That's a problem for another time," Admiral Veranis said, the graying older man no less sharp for his years. He tapped at a screen in front of him as he said, "I'm afraid our larger concern is what he had to say for himself."

With another tap, a copy of the Chief's helmet-cam footage began to play. Roland flicked his eyes to her, opening a private channel and telling her not to worry. He'd doctored the footage so as to be sure that her physical body wouldn't appear on it. It was the less relevant issue at the moment and she thanked him for it, though she didn't say that aloud. She kept one eye on the replay, core lurching.

" _If humanity cannot be contained, they are to be burned from the stars._ "

" _Halo._ "

" _Yes. Stronger means than the Composer have proven necessary. Humanity's destruction will be a kindness they do not deserve._ "

A grave silence fell over the comms room. Captain Lasky swallowed audibly, holding his chin up by sheer force of will. It was a lot to swallow and she couldn't blame him for needing a moment. She wished they had those moments to spare.

"Is what he's saying possible?" Admiral Veranis asked, a little paler than his dusky olive skin should have normally been. "Can he activate the surviving rings?"

"It's more than possible, Admiral," Cortana said. Her avatar clasped its hands at the small of its back and continued, "Not only is he a Forerunner with more understanding of the required systems than any human alive, but from what I understand the firing system of the entire array was reset during Operation Far Storm." Lord Hood nodded and she grimaced. Damn. That was going to be a problem. She shook it off and said, "That would, in theory, allow it to be keyed to whomever reaches the Control Room first. At this stage it's much more likely to be a when, not an if."

She just wasn't sure when that when would actually be. The Portal from Earth to the Ark was still open, establishing a seemingly permanent link between Earth and the Henry Lamb Research Outpost on the Ark. It would be simple enough for the Didact to sweep in on a Guardian, neutralize Earth's defenses, and then slip through the Portal to accomplish his goal on the other side. They could hardly stop him, after all, so why hadn't he done so? Why was he bothering with all these theatrics and secondary plans? She just wasn't sure.

"Then why is he even bothering with all of this?" Admiral Holt asked, plucking the words right out of Cortana's vocal processor. "If he can so easily destroy human infrastructure and take down our ships, why even bother with taking any of us out? He could simply pop on through and be done with it all!"

"Because it's personal." John said, drawing all eyes to him. "We stopped his plans before by destroying the Composer and wounding him. We humiliated him, so now he's going to do the same to us." He shrugged when everyone but Cortana kept on staring at him. "Psychological tactics."

"He wants to break us." Admiral Osman said, a grudging note of respect entering her voice. "Take us out slowly, make things seem hopeless." She raised an eyebrow. "Can he?"

"Ma'am?"

"Are things hopeless?" She asked, "If he so easily took you down, Master Chief, I can't imagine throwing the rest of the IVs at him will get us any better results."

She had a point. Cortana consulted her files and turned a few plans over. She had basic Forerunner anatomy scans and diagrams in her on-board files. They were made of the same organic materials as humans but were somehow infinitely more durable. They'd tried shooting the Didact, John had obviously stabbed him to no real effect, he'd dodged a nuclear explosion, and had survived slipspace! At this point she was beginning to contemplate the idea of him being immortal somehow, but hell if she knew how.

There had to be some way of putting him down. Maybe dropping him into a star or a black hole? She was tempted…but no. No, it would be simpler to just bombard him with a few dozen missiles. Scorched earth was usually effective.

If they could hit him.

"Not much can withstand a full pod of Archer missiles," She answered for the sake of answering, though she didn't need the look John gave her to know that plan would have to wait. "But I'm afraid reaching him will be the bigger problem, Admiral."

With a snap of her avatar's fingers, she brought up a copy of the Janus map. It was zoomed in on Genesis' location, the little sphere blinking away.

"Before the Guardian left Meridian I was able to implant a tracking code into its software. Considering that the Didact stepped inside of it, both it and he are now here." Before they could ask why she hadn't given them coordinates already, she zoomed the map out and twisted it. Several of the Admirals hissed in alarm. Lord Hood looked to Lasky.

"Captain, has this information been verified?"

"It's been double and triple checked, Admiral," the Captain lied straight to the Admirals without flinching. He knew the stakes. There was no time for their sidestepping the issue and he continued, "Both Roland and the entire team of nav-officers had run the math. All had come to the same conclusion that Cortana had. "The signal is emanating from a planet within the Carina-Sagittarius arm." He pressed his lips together into a thin line. "We have no scans or eyes in the area, human or Covenant."

And there was a difference between flying blind in known territory, and flying blind through the pitch dark unknown of the other half of the galaxy. Admiral Veranis swore in the several languages he was fluent in.

"He's clear across the bloody galaxy! How are we supposed to get after him when he's that far—" He sat back, "We can't possibly send the fleets after him! We have no idea what's out there! For all we know we'd be sending them into a trap."

"So we don't go after him." Admiral Osman chimed in. All eyes snapped to her. "We know what he's planning. I say we fall back and defend Earth. Let the rest of the galaxy fend for itself." She looked down her nose at John and Cortana. "Unless our esteemed colleagues on the _Infinity_ believe that they can take him out for good before then?"

It was a trap question. The Admirals had seen how badly the fight had gone. To say they could handle him was an overstatement. To admit they couldn't…well. She couldn't see that being a good option. Thankfully Lord Hood came to their rescue.

"Admiral Osman has a point," He said, though he eyed her sidelong for some reason or another, "If we can't reach him, we have to focus on defense instead of offense. Captain Lasky, you reported a find of a map of all Forerunner technology on Requiem?" When the Captain nodded he continued, "Send it our way. We'll devote the entire science wing to decoding it and finding the remaining Halo rings. Taking them offline is our top priority."

It wasn't going to work. In order for their pulse to have scrubbed the entire galaxy clean, the rings would have had to have been placed in more than just the Orion arm. Humanity had never expanded past its borders! Even if they could find them, they'd still be charging blindly ahead. To hit that many targets would split the fleet. Earth would be exposed, vulnerable. It might work, but at what cost?

Cortana grit her teeth, her avatar catching John's eye. The corners of his lips twitched downwards, breaking his otherwise stony expression. He knew how this was going to go.

"Admiral," Captain Lasky said, "It took us two years to find Installation 03, and another six months to bring it down for decommission. There have been five colonies destroyed by Guardians already. At that rate we may have days before humanity is unable to fight back. With all due respect, we don't have the time to play it safe any more."

"And what are you suggesting, _Captain_ Lasky," Osman broke in before Lord Hood could say anything. Her fellow Admirals all gave her harsh looks but she didn't flinch. "Attack the Didact head on? Destroy his Guardians before they can knock us out of the sky?" She shook her head. "Installations 03, 04, and 05 are offline, and only Installation 04 was within human controlled space. The rest of the galaxy can handle itself."

"Oh, like you let the Sangheili handle themselves?" Admiral Holt scoffed, "Mind the thin ice you're treading on, Admiral, and mind your tone. We don't have time for petty squabbles." Ignoring how red Osman went she looked to Captain Lasky. "Let's hear it, Captain. What are you suggesting?"

"Ma'am. Roland and the Engineers have fine-tuned our shields. The _Infinity_ can take a hit or two from a Guardian's pulse before she goes down. My suggestion is that you allow us to go after the Didact while the rest of the fleets return to Earth. If we fail, they'll already be in position."

"And we'll be down the strongest ship in the fleet." Lord Hood pointed out. "Captain Lasky, the bravery you and your crew display is to be commended, but that's a risk we can't take. We can't—"

"Then send us alone." The Chief broke in, startling everyone but Cortana. He had no patience for talking heads and he knew the dangers they were facing. That it had taken as long as it had was the real surprise. All the Admirals snapped their attention to him, some eyes wide for him breaking protocol so quickly. "Don't send the _Infinity_. Whatever's happened between the UNSC and the Sangheili, the Arbiter knows us, and he knows what would happen if the Halos were to fire. Once we inform him of the situation, he'll work with us."

"Covenant technology is also capable of withstanding Forerunner tech by design, due to how they reverse engineered most of their ships from them." Cortana added, grabbing onto hope by her fingernails. She already knew that if they said no, she and John would go AWOL after the Didact anyway. She also knew that that course of action had the highest chance of him ending up dead. If there was any way for them to have even the slimmest amount of back-up… "And according to the map, there is a Guardian on Sanghelios. If we activate it, we can take a Covenant cruiser through the portal after it and slip in unnoticed. I doubt the Didact would appreciate a plasma bombardment anymore than he would a missile pod."

"Just how do you intend to activate the thing?" Admiral Veranis asked, "From what I understand of your reports, this level of Forerunner technology can only be activated by an actual Forerunner! I highly doubt the Didact's going to snap his fingers from wherever the bloody hell he is and let you waltz in his front door."

Well, about that. Cortana's avatar shook its head.

"I still had half a hand in the code, Admiral," She said, "Not to bore you with the details, but if we can get there before the Didact does activate this one, I can forge an override and force it to go…wherever it is they're landing." She pressed her lips together. "It won't do away with the destruction, though."

"And the Arbiter's just going to let that happen? Where exactly is the bloody thing?"

"Here." With a snap of her fingers she shifted the data from the Janus map to a more local copy. The UNSC's scans of Sanghelios appeared on the holo-table, a rotating city on display. "As far as we've been able to parse it's in the ocean just below Sunaion, a pre-Covenant religious site. It's uninhabited and shouldn't be too much trouble if it goes down."

"It's also full of Covenant from the splinter cells led by Jul 'Mdama." Captain Lasky chimed in, "Losing it will strike a blow to their morale and help the Arbiter win his war. Both sides come out ahead, Admiral."

"Oh, of course they do." Admiral Osman hissed, her eyes dark with fury. "So we're supposed to just let you charge off into Sangheili territory to help them? Need I remind you of what they did to humanity? They would sooner see us all burn than help us save ourselves."

"Only because you've kept the fires of war burning long after they should have gone out!" Admiral Hood snapped, slamming his hands to the table in front of him. Even across light years of distance and through the hologram, Cortana felt that slam in her bones. "Need I remind you of how thin the ice you're standing on is, Admiral Osman? One more word and I'll have you removed."

If looks could kill, Admiral Hood would have been spaced. The other five Admirals all looked to her, watching, waiting for her response, and with a drawn out exhalation she sat back.

"Yes sir," She said, looking away. Lord Hood eyed her for a moment longer before turning his attention back to the _Infinity_ and her crew.

"Master Chief, Cortana," He said to them, looking both John and her avatar in the eye, "You both know the odds of success are slim to none. Even if the Arbiter is willing to help us clean up our mess, are you absolutely certain this is something you're willing to do?"

"Sir," they said in perfect unison, "Yes, sir."

Captain Lasky closed his eyes. On the other side of the connection, so did Lord Hood. He took a deep breath, let it all go, and then opened them again.

"The last time someone didn't listen to you, seven million people were wiped off the face of the planet. If we don't stop the Didact, all life in the galaxy will meet the same fate, but we can't spare the _Infinity_ from the defensive lines."

Cortana's core lurched. That was it, then. Lord Hood had made his call and they were going to have to go AWOL. It was a price worth paying, but the thought of John throwing everything he had away for it…it still stung.

"That being said," Lord Hood continued, startling her, "Spartans can do a lot more good on the ground than in a starship. Captain Lasky," He looked to the Captain and asked, "How quickly can you be in Sangheili space?"

"Four hours, sir."

Lord Hood nodded, doubtlessly running the math. Four hours to Sangheili space from Meridian, then the trip back to Earth. Still reeling from actually being backed up by the brass, Cortana ran the calculations: they would arrive in Earth orbit after eighteen hours. Well within the twenty four limit usually imposed on emergency recalls. He nodded again.

"Then I'm going to greenlight this operation," He said, "I have channels into Sangehelios. I'll call ahead so the Arbiter knows you're coming. Captain Lasky, once you've dropped the Chief and Cortana off, set course for Earth." He sighed quietly. "Maybe someday we'll stop needing to rely on you both so much."

"Someday, sir." Cortana said with a gentle smile. "I've forwarded everything we have on the Didact and the Guardians to FLEETCOM. I'd recommend having the heaviest hitters up in front when you set defensive lines."

"Acknowledged." Lord Hood replied. He looked at the two of them as if it were the last time he would ever see them alive, then reached up and adjusted the brim of his cap. "Master Chief, Cortana, the UNSC thanks you for your continued service and bravery in the face of insurmountable odds. We'll keep the lights on for you."

"Sir," John snapped out a salute, "Thank you, sir."

With a final nod, Lord Hood severed his connection. Osman was gone in the next second without so much as a _by your leave_ , and the other Admirals lingered only long enough to nod respectfully before they also cut their connections. Captain Lasky leaned heavily against the holo-table, sighing. Palmer reached out to put a hand on his shoulder and he lifted his head.

"Why is it that we keep having to send you two into the jaws of death?" He asked rhetorically, "Why do we always need you to sacrifice to solve problems other people created?"

There was no other answer to that line of questioning, and certainly no satisfying one. John shifted uncomfortably, rolling his shoulders. Cortana dismissed her avatar and stepped out of the shadows to stand beside him, looking up to meet his eyes. His stony expression had cracked, revealing the full depths of his discomfort. He grimaced, looking away from her as well. He had no answers for the Captain either. She took a deep breath.

"Sir," Cortana began slowly, watching as he turned to look at her, "The Didact got loose because of us. It's our job to stick him back in the box."

Or die trying. If she was being honest with herself, they probably would. John probably would. Her eyes burned with tears she couldn't shed and she shoved at her emotional processing unit until it settled. She cleared her throat.

"We know the odds aren't good. There's a good chance this'll be the last time we see this ship." See home again. She closed her eyes, processed the thought, and set it aside. Setting her shoulders back she held her head high and added, "But it's our job, our duty, to go out there and do everything we can to stop him. No matter what it takes."

"It's your duty as soldiers." The Captain said, looking oddly at John. Almost like he'd heard those words before. That was strange. They must have talked about something while she was out. She watched John set his shoulders and nod, prompting the Captain to sigh heavily. He scrubbed a hand down his face, palm rasping against three day old stubble. He muttered a few curses into his hand and closed his eyes. He wouldn't stop them, Cortana knew, but that didn't mean he had to like it. Palmer's hand squeezed his shoulder and he took another breath. "Okay. Okay. If you're sure."

"We are, sir." John said, his voice pitched low, "But don't count us out just yet. We might get lucky."

"Says the man who lands on his head half the time," Palmer shot back, though her tone was without heat. She shook her head, her eyes dark with emotion she didn't allow herself to express. "Just don't do anything stupid. I don't want to have to break in another second in command after I finally got you working the teams the way I like."

The corner of John's mouth twitched upwards. "Ma'am. We'll do our best."

"See that you do," the Captain said sternly. He'd lowered his hand from his face, steeling his expression. His voice was firm as he ordered, "Your orders are to eliminate the Didact, and I expect you both to be back on this ship in one piece when your mission is complete. Is that clear?"

"Sir," John and Cortana said in unison, snapping out sharp salutes. "Yes sir."

There was no point in denying the odds. They all knew their chances of success were limited, even with fresh armor and the best weapons they could carry. The Didact was beyond skilled, beyond competent. If they didn't take him out immediately upon encountering him, the odds of their successfully complying with those orders were pretty slim. This was more than likely a one way trip.

Strange. The last time they'd had one of those she'd been ready for it to be over but now. Now she hesitated, her core lurching. It wasn't that she was unprepared to face death in the course of completing this mission, in the course of keeping the galaxy safe from all threats, it was that she was still unprepared to face his death. No amount of logic or time could prepare her to face that. Even just thinking about it was enough to put a chill of terror in her core.

Instantly, every process reached the same conclusion. They—she—would do absolutely everything in her power to make sure that John walked back onto this ship in the same state he'd walked off of it. No matter what it cost her, she was going to bring him home. She wouldn't give up hope that they could make this work, no matter how slim the odds.

They could do this, she told herself as the Captain dismissed them with orders to suit up and get ready to drop. They had to do this.

If they didn't…well. The world would end with a bang after all.


	12. Chapter 12

Sanghelios was a planet of extremes. The fourth planet in the Urs system, it skated the edge of the habitable zone and paid the price for that. Temperatures could range from the negatives to nearly the triple digits, and its two moons kept the vast oceans roughly beating away at the continents. It was a harsh place to call home, which honestly explained the Sangheili more than anything else ever could.

Watching their approach on the viewscreen of the Phantom that had so graciously agreed to ferry them from _Infinity_ to ground, Cortana had to wonder if a human had ever set foot on the soil below. It was all wild and untamed outside the cities, a taste of the greater galaxy at large, and some small part of her wondered what it'd be like to go out there and explore it all with John when this was over.

Daydreams and fantasies. Nothing worth chasing right now. She boxed up the thought for another time and reconsidered their orders.

Find the Didact. Eliminate him. Return to UNSC space alive.

They were simple orders, but the most dangerous and difficult ones usually were. Actually managing to follow the last one would be the hard part. Even dressed to the nines in fully upgraded, brand new armor and armed to the teeth with as much heavy weaponry as the two of them could carry, Cortana still felt unprepared and vulnerable. She had seen what the Didact was capable of; if they didn't eliminate him fast and hard, he'd wipe them out. They'd faced tough odds before, but this…she wondered if she'd have felt any better about it riding in John's lace but quickly dismissed that thought as well. At least with a physical form she could push him out of the way if needed.

" _We're headed out, Cor. You two be careful down there._ "

" _You too, Roland. Tell the Captain not to worry._ "

" _Ha. That'll be the day._ "

Her connection to Roland abruptly went dark as the _Infinity_ slipped back into the void of slipspace, leaving her alone in her own head. She closed her eyes and sighed.

"There she goes."

John shifted his weight beside her, his eyes darting to meet hers through the vid-link. They were dark, narrowed by half a centimeter. Something was bothering him.

"We'll be fine."

"That's really not the point, is it?" She arched an eyebrow. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing." He looked away from the link, well aware he couldn't lie to her and have her buy it. She raised the other eyebrow. "It's fine."

"Mmhmm." It wasn't. Something—a lot of things, really—was bothering him. She couldn't put her finger on it just yet and tasked a handful of processes to go over the last three days. He couldn't still be hung up on what happened on Meridian, could he? Knowing him he probably was. She rolled her shoulders and said, "Well, with any luck, the _Infinity_ and the fleets will have a very boring weekend after all."

John glanced back at her. "Think you can handle all stealing of the excitement?"

"I was about to ask you that." Leaning her weight back Cortana cocked her head and said, "It's been nearly six years since the Arbiter last saw you. I'm willing to bet he's thrown a parade in your honor already."

The look of disgust that crossed John's face was both instant and amusing. Cortana snickered to herself before reopening the channel.

"Don't tell me the great Master Chief is scared of a few public events."

"No comment." John shook his head, huffing quietly. Amusement thrummed through his voice as he asked, "Do you really think he's thrown a parade for the Demon?"

"Weeellll…" No. Probably not. Even if the Arbiter respected John, asking his people to share in that respect and celebrate him as one of their own was probably too much given how little time had passed since their two species had been trying to kill one another. The corner of John's mouth twitched upwards as she added, "A parade might have been overstating it, but I'm sure he's at least mentioned you. The former Covenant races tend to be pretty chatty."

John huffed, actually amused. They both knew that to be well established fact, after all. The Prophets hadn't been the only species to love the sound of their own voices.

"We will arrive in one minute," their pilot said, her deep voice echoing through the open flight deck. The Phantom had already begun to slow down for final approach. "Keep your weapons stowed. The Swords of Sangehelios do not take kindly to…threats."

Of course not. They were political guests, not conquering soldiers! It was to be expected. Cortana nodded all the same.

"Of course. Thank you for the ride, 'Chava. We appreciate the assist."

A clack of mandibles was the only answer Mahkee 'Chava gave, a gesture and sound that could have meant anything from _you're welcome_ to _get the hell off my ship_ given context and the rest of her body language. But given that the Phantom had come to a low stop and the boarding hatch had begun to open, Cortana would put credits on it being the former. She boxed up that thought with all the rest of the non-essentials and shunted them into their requisite boxes, stepping up beside the Chief as the Phantom came to a full landing. The hatch opened the rest of the way, allowing the hot, gritty wind to flow inside.

Outside, thick yellow clouds blanketed the sky, blocking the three suns from view, but they were still in the middle of a desert canyon. Temperature readings were a balmy 50 degrees Celsius in the shade and even higher out in the open. Thankfully neither of them had to worry about overheating; it wouldn't be the weather that did them in on this planet.

The locals, however…

"When they told me you were dead, I did not believe them." A deep voice boomed, the boarding ramp rattling beneath the heavy, hoofed tread of a Sangheili. Metal armor clanked as the Arbiter stepped aboard the Phantom, stopping an arm's length away from the Chief. "Were it so easy to kill the Demon, the war would have ended decades ago."

"Were it so easy," John replied, the barest hint of a smile tugging at one corner of his mouth. "Arbiter. Still giving the Covenant trouble?"

"Always," the Arbiter said with a clack of his mandibles. This one was easier to read as the equivalent to an ear-to-ear grin and he extended a hand towards John. When John clasped it for a firm shake, the Arbiter tugged forward into a warrior's arm clasp, genuine respect coloring his voice. "And now we shall give them more."

John nodded firmly. Cortana had to smile to herself; it was funny how two once enemies could speak like they were the best of friends even after so long apart. Something about facing extinction together sure made getting along easier. John glanced back at her and asked, "You remember Cortana?"

"Yes, and—" The Arbiter stopped dead, staring at her. "Construct?"

Grinning ear to ear Cortana dismissed her helmet. Smiles may not have been the same between their two species, but surprise transferred much better. She was sure that if he'd had eyebrows they'd have been making a run for the upper atmosphere.

"Arbiter," She greeted, bowing her head respectfully, "It's good to see you again. I see you're still as crazy as I recall."

"From you, that is a compliment of the highest order," the Arbiter replied, shaking his head. He looked her up and down appraisingly and then said, "You were smaller when last we met."

"And you were taller." Cortana said cheekily. John huffed in amusement as the Arbiter barked out a laugh, shaking his head as if to ask himself what he had expected. "A lot can change in a few years."

"Yes. And some things do not. Come," the Arbiter turned, leading them off the boarding ramp and into the camp. Hardy looking tents had been set up in the shadows of the high canyon walls, a scattering of Unngoy and Sangheili stopping in their tasks to watch the Arbiter escort two humans through their stronghold. Cortana scanned the area and took note of numbers, emplacements, and available supplies as they walked beneath the baking yellow sky. The Swords were strapped thin, only a few crates of supplies and birds to call their own. They didn't seem to be suffering from the heat, though; they were built for this space. The environment of Sanghelios was as hard and unyielding as her people and it wasn't exactly made for sustained human habitation. She had to admit she'd be glad to get John off this baking boulder. "The information your Lord Hood sent with his request is alarming, but some among my warriors call it a human trap."

"Do you think it is?" the Chief asked, sidestepping around a Grunt that stared up at him. The Arbiter shook his head sharply.

"No," He said, "But the last years have been difficult. Your ONI has seen fit to try and control our battles," He glanced over his shoulder, head tilted just so. "You will find little trust for your kind on this planet."

That was both surprising and not. That ONI—Admiral Osman, most likely—would see fit to keep the Sangheili and the Covenant busy with one another rather than restarting a war with humanity was a valid if amoral tactic. Cortana could understand the use and reasoning behind it, but she didn't like it. She shook her head as the Chief glanced at her through the vid-link; she hadn't known and would need to dig into it later. Accepting that with a nod the Chief turned back to the Arbiter.

"We don't need your people's trust," He said plainly, "We only need access to Sunaion."

"Yes. To access this Guardian," the Arbiter hummed thoughtfully, holding open the flap of a large tent on a ridge that overlooked the encampment. The back was open, allowing a gorgeous view of the landscape, and a holo-table had been set up inside, a map of Sunaion hovering over the display surface. Bulbous towers and winding roads were anchored on sturdy struts that plunged into the ocean below, all of it marred with hundreds of red markers. Enemy forces held the city, just like Captain Lasky had said. She wondered how he'd gotten that information.

Taking up position on one side of the table, the Arbiter hit a few buttons. The red markers vanished and were replaced by a larger, much more nebulous form in the ocean off the west side of the city. He clacked his mandibles angrily. "Our scouts and scans have confirmed what information we were given. This Guardian rests in the waters beneath the city." He glanced up at Cortana. "So it is true that this Didact intends to activate the Rings?"

"I'm afraid so." Cortana said, "And we don't know how long we have before he tries to. Even with three of the rings out of commission, the pulse from four of them…" She pressed her lips together. "It's not good."

"No." The Arbiter leaned over the holo-table, considering. "No, it is not. But neither is your plan." With a twist of his three fingered hand he zoomed in on the map, holographic anti-air emplacements popping into view. "The city is the backbone of the Covenant presence on Sanghelios, and it is well defended. To attack it would be to risk my entire force."

Cortana fought back a grimace. Her plans began to unravel in her hands, falling away like the desert sand. No, no, there had to be some way to salvage this.

"We can go in alone," John said, practically reading her mind, "If you can't spare your forces, Cortana and I can go in and handle it." He glanced at her and she nodded. They moved faster alone, anyway. He looked back to the Arbiter. "The Guardian activating will destroy Sunaion. You won't have to risk your people."

"You misunderstand, Spartan," the Arbiter said, "My people will gladly enter this battle without hesitation. Shattering Sunaion will break the will of the Covenant and it is a risk we are all prepared to take. But we have no Carrier to spare," He looked to Cortana, "Nor any ships that can take you along with this construct when it leaves."

That was fine! She could work with that. They'd have to get close enough for her to broadcast the activation sequence and then. Oh. Oh, great.

"We'll have to ride the Guardian through instead," She said with a frustrated hiss. That meant being close enough to test her retuned shields against any pulses. Dammit! Of all the—there was no other option. If they didn't do this they'd lose their only real chance at getting to the Didact before it was too late. "Which means getting up close and personal. I don't suppose you could drop us off nearby?"

"No." The Arbiter twisted the map again. A large open-air courtyard was near enough to the Guardian that a thruster pack could clear the distance between them, but judging by the red holograms that popped up all along the route and in the courtyard itself… "This is the most heavily fortified area of the city. Attempting to land anywhere nearby would be suicidal, even for you."

"We'll have to clear a path through the city," the Chief said. He reached for the map, zooming back out and twisting it backwards and forwards, eyes darting across the width of the projection. It only took a few seconds before he began to trace a route along the winding roads and tunnels beneath the city itself from one end to the other. "This side of the city has the least defenses. We drop here, clear the AA guns, and your forces can take the city back while we get to the Guardian."

"Which then destroys the city and the will of the Covenant with it," the Arbiter said, a dangerous growl entering his voice. Had he been able, Cortana was sure he would have been smirking. "I see your taste for destruction has not waned, Master Chief."

John huffed quietly. Cortana grinned cheekily.

"Not everything's changed, you know. We might even be convinced to clear out a few of the Covenant out for you if you ask nicely."

The Arbiter barked out another laugh, shaking his head. The more things changed, that gesture said, the more they stayed the same. He gestured for Cortana and John to have their way with the map, turning to check another screen mounted nearer the back wall of the tent. Grabbing onto the display she twisted and turned the map, plotting several variations to John's route just in case. He stepped up beside her and pointed out a twisting alley between two far too tall buildings that they could use if they really wanted to be quiet about it.

She glanced up at him and smirked. Them? Avoid detection? His answering huff was quiet, her ears only, and her smirk became a smile. It'd be worth a shot. She put a pin in that thought as the Arbiter returned to the table.

"My forces can be ready to move within the hour. Take what time you need to prepare," he said, looking between the two of them, "And today, we will prove to both ONI and the Covenant that we have no need for the mistakes of our past."

With that said, and in two long strides, the Arbiter swept out of his tent. The flap closed behind him, leaving them alone in the quiet and red-tinted warmth. Grateful she couldn't sweat Cortana raked a hand through her hair.

"Well, he's as friendly as ever," She snarked, "Good to know we have at least one friend out here, even if he's as crazy as you are."

"Why else would we get along?" John snarked right back, though his amusement quickly faded as she returned her attention to the map. She twisted it around to their end goal and crossed her arms, pensive. She wasn't sure of the range of her broadcasting ability. They'd really have to be close… "Cortana."

"Hm?"

"Are you sure you can do this?"

Startled, Cortana blinked and turned to look at him. His faceless visor stared back at her, though his eyes were dark with concern as they watched her through the vid-link. Wha—where had this come from all of a sudden?

"What other option do we have?"

"That's not what I asked," he said firmly, "Are you sure."

Because if she wasn't he'd make another option, said the darkness in his voice. Cortana didn't answer right away, choosing to look out at the horizon instead. Was she sure she could pull this off? No, not really. But there was no other option and they didn't have time for him to make a new one. Still, she loved him all the more for wanting to try anyway. She turned around to face him.

"I'm sure," She said, then smiled softly and added, "Don't worry. I borrowed Roland's retuned shield matrices before we left the _Infinity_. I might get the wind knocked out of me, but I won't pass out again." She hoped. John shook his head faintly.

"You could become the ultimate being. I'd still worry about you."

Though she couldn't blush the way humans could, the glow of Cortana's hard-light frame still flared a little brighter around her cheeks and ears. One corner of John's mouth pulled upwards, his still darkened eyes glimmering with the faintest hint of amusement. She looked away with a huff.

"Give me an ego, why don't you."

"You've earned it." He said, opening his mouth to say something else only to stop himself before he could. He took a breath, held it, then let it go. Still bright in the face she watched him, half-braced for trouble. He was a man of few words but it wasn't like him to be so tongue-tied. She arched an eyebrow and waited for him to notice. His eyes darted to her, then away. Okay then. Something was really bothering him. Better to get to the bottom of it before the plasma started flying.

"Something wrong?"

Three, two, one— "It's nothing."

Of course it wasn't. With a heavy sigh, Cortana crossed her arms over her chest. He looked away from her knowing look, an uncomfortable silence falling between them. If it was up to him he'd stew on it for weeks until it finally came to a head, whatever it was. That might have flown during their downtime on _Infinity_ , but it couldn't fly now.

"Don't do that."

"What?"

"Don't feel like you have to lie to me and say everything's fine when we know it's not, Chief," She said, pitching her voice low. "I know you're not immune to all of this. A lot's happened recently. Anyone would be overwhelmed."

"You're not."

Oh, if only he knew. "You keep forgetting I have the Domain to process things. If I had only one processor I'd have stuck my head between my knees days ago." A whisper of a there and gone smile flickered across his face. She tilted her head. "You want to tell me what's bothering you?"

The silence that followed was about as close to "No." as she'd ever get, but it lasted only three point four seconds before he allowed himself to sigh. He turned away, walking out of the tent and onto the ridge that overlooked the desert below. She stared at his back, core stuttering towards a freeze.

"Chief?" She whispered, suddenly unsteady. He turned his face to the sun and didn't look back at her. The vid-link shut down from his end. Before she could reopen it, he spoke.

"What are the odds that we both walk out of this one alive?"

Pretty terrible, honestly. She already knew the answer but ran the numbers again just to be sure, crunching them through a few more theoretical equations on the off chance they'd change. They didn't, of course. Numbers never lied and her averages only ticked up by a thousandth of a percent. Pressing her lips together, Cortana shook her head.

"Roughly two percent," She had to admit, watching as he stiffened up, "Admittedly that's not accounting for getting lucky and finding the Forerunner equivalent of a Havok mine on Genesis, in which case the odds jump to about ten percent."

Her core ran hot as she was faced with what those numbers really meant: his chances of dying were somewhere between ninety and ninety eight percent. Even Operation Red Flag's chances of failure had only been in the high seventies, but for that one they'd had a whole damn army of Spartans behind them. For this…she swallowed hard, sure that she could taste sour at the back of her throat.

She'd come to terms with her own death over the years, had wrestled with her Rampancy for four years in the dark and managed to stare it down to the end. All that mattered was John; so long as he survived, what happened to her didn't matter. She'd spent so long thinking that she'd be the one to go first that she didn't know what to do with the idea that she would outlive _him_. She'd known it was possible, of course; even before all of this she'd known that his life and the occupational hazards therein meant he'd more likely than not meet his end on a far-flung battlefield somewhere in the stars. It was just that she'd seen face down Elites, Brutes, Hunters, the Flood—hell, even the Didact! He'd survived everything the galaxy had thrown at him for over thirty years! Foolish as it was, she'd allowed herself to believe that meant he was invincible.

Except that he wasn't. He was mortal, and mortal men always died at some point. Maybe his number had just finally come up and—no.

No. No, she couldn't think like that. They were still alive, still fighting. The Didact didn't get to win. Not like this. Not before the battle had even begun!

With a vehement shake of her head, Cortana discarded all her precious math and equations. She knew exactly how slim their odds were but that couldn't matter today. To admit they stood no real chance was to admit defeat before the fight had even started. If they did that why had they even bothered to leave the _Infinity_? They might as well have plunked down in the observation bay and watched the galaxy burn.

As if they'd ever do that. One thing neither of them would ever be able to do was give up without a fight. Pushing off the holo-table, Cortana walked up to stand beside him.

"But that doesn't matter," She said. He jerked his gaze from the horizon and stared at her, bright gold sunlight reflecting off his visor. She knew exactly where to look to meet his eyes and held them firmly with her own. "We're going to win this fight, Chief. We're going to kick his ass and save the galaxy one more time."

"How?"

"I don't know," She admitted, "We'll figure something out on the way, but I know we're going to manage." With a smile she knocked her boot against his armored foot. "Come on, Chief. Chin up. You always find a way to beat the odds."

For a moment he said nothing. For a moment she was sure she'd gotten through to him, bolstered him up like he'd done for her so many times. Then, quietly, he sighed. He looked back to the horizon.

"Not always. We couldn't save Meridan."

Cortana looked out to the horizon as she tried to find the right words to bandage this unseen wound. The Meridian colonists, her. All people he'd failed to protect because he'd failed to see what was coming, failed to stop the threat. It went further back than that, she thought; New Phoenix and Ivanoff, any soldiers who'd died on their first trip to Requiem. He carried all of those lives on his shoulders like Atlas carried the world. Looking at him now she could see the toll that weight was taking; his shoulders were bowed, his head bent. How long could he carry his perceived failures before he fell? How long would he try?

It was a stupid question. He'd carry them until they drove him into the ground. Her heart broke for him. After the Covenant's arrival, the Spartans had become humanity's last hope. They'd all internalized that failure was not an option. None of them likely knew what to do with it when it stared them in the face; they'd come to accept losses among their own company, and lives spent in combat to defend innocents were easier to swallow. But civilians lost with no way to stop it from happening? It wasn't something that was easy for even someone like her to swallow and she had the benefit of near infinite processing power to handle it. She batted aside the process pulling up psychology references and reached out instead, taking his hand.

"We tried, Chief," She said gently, clasping her fingers around his. He said nothing, only spread his fingers enough for her to slip into the gaps between them, their fingers interlacing as he squeezed them. He anchored herself against her, lifting his head just a little higher. She squeezed back. "And we're going to make him pay for every life he's ever taken. He's not getting away this time."

Not if she had anything to say about it. She spun off three processes to finalize their battle plans as John turned the vid-link back on, meeting her eyes through it. The lines on his time-worn face deepened into a frown. She arched an eyebrow, tilting her head. She knew that look: he was about to say something he knew she wasn't going to like. Her arched eyebrow rose a little higher, wordlessly telling him it was alright to say it. He took another breath and tightened his grip on her hand.

"If I ask you to fall back once the Guardian is online, will you?"

Cortana instantly pulled a face. "Do you really even have to ask that? I'm not going to let you go off after the Didact by yourself. That's beyond even our brand of crazy." Squeezing his hand with all her strength she added, "We go together, remember? Wherever and however this ends, I'm with you."

Knowing him that was why he'd asked. He'd already had to face the idea of her dying once before and he'd refused to accept it. To face it again now had rattled him. She watched as he pressed his lips together into a fine line, working out the words he wanted to say before he said them. He knew his own odds and to apply those odds to her…his tightening grip on her hand told him just how badly the idea was bothering him. He didn't have to say anything. Every process was screaming at her to take him into her arms, to promise that she would be alright, but her logic unit knew she couldn't make that promise. She only had the promise she'd made to herself, and she knew that he'd made himself that same promise. They really were too much alike sometimes.

Forcing herself to remain steady, Cortana closed her eyes. She couldn't promise him that she'd survive. She couldn't promise him that they'd make it back, alive or not, and not being able to ease his fears made her core ache. The only way she could ease his fears was to not be there. That left her with only one option.

"Chief," She began, her aching core sinking towards her feet as he looked at her, "If things go wrong, if he manages to." She couldn't say it. She had to say it. She had to give him this much peace of mind, at least. She took a deep breath and turned the words over in her mind; her pause caused him to turn his hand, clasping her fingers all the tighter. She drew strength from that grip and managed to continue, "If he kills you, I'll fall back. I'll come back to friendly space and pull together an army to put him down. But unless and until that happens, I'm with you." She looked up at his expressionless golden visor, trying to smile. "No matter what happens out there, I'm with you."

"I don't want you to have to see that," He said in a gentle tone. There he was, putting her first again. She'd have hugged him if they weren't on unsafe ground. "You can fall back. It's okay."

"It's not." She countered. "Chief, I can't die. Not the way you can, but even if I could, I would rather go out out there, fighting at your side, than fall back and survive knowing there was something I could have done to help you, but—" When she closed her eyes this time, all she could see was his body sprawled across the floor, her inability to help him searing through her code. He had gotten up that time. She doubted that death itself would be so kind. She had to clear her throat to keep her voice from shaking. "But I didn't, because I wasn't there when you needed me the most."

"Cortana…" He sighed, next words coming even gentler, nearly in the tone he'd use on a marine bleeding out. "I'll fight better knowing you're somewhere safe."

She knew what he was doing. He was trying to appeal to her care for him. He needed to know that she would survive however this ended, and for a moment she nearly gave in. But then she shook her head. Maybe under different circumstances it would have worked, but not under these.

"If he pulls this off, there's going to be nowhere in the galaxy that's safe." She opened her eyes, lifting her chin despite the wobble to her lips. "Did I mention that those odds of success kind of hinged on two guns, not just one?"

John snorted quietly, the sound a hair thicker than normal. She took a deep breath to steady herself, squeezing his hand. His thumb ran across her armored knuckles and not for the first time she wished he wasn't in full kit. She'd have given anything to feel the warmth of his skin right then.

"I can't promise this is going to go well. All I can promise is I'll find a way to get out." She said, voice steadier than she felt. He met her gaze through the vid-link as she finished, "But until then, we go together. Whatever happens, it's you and me. Always."

Even if that always would lead only to their deaths. He took another deep breath, held it, then finally let it go. His shoulders bowed beneath some unseen weight and she found herself hoping, maybe foolishly, that someday he'd learn to let her help him carry it. That day wasn't today. Today his attention snapped back to the tent flap as heavy footsteps plodded towards them. He didn't let go of her hands as the Arbiter strode back into his tent. Golden eyes swept over them but he otherwise called no attention to their position. Maybe he thought it was normal for humans to be so touchy-feely before a mission. She appreciated his discretion all the same and swiped a hand over her face.

"Do we have a bird?" The Chief asked. The Arbiter nodded.

"Yes. It leaves as soon as we are aboard." With one last look at the holo-table, the Arbiter picked up an inactive energy sword from a nearby crate. It crackled to life in his hands, the razor sharp plasma edge glowing gold in the Sangheili sunlight. "Now come. It is time to teach the Covenant a lesson they shall never forget."

* * *

For all his manpower, the one thing the Arbiter didn't have to spare was ships. He hadn't been lying about having no Carrier to spare; the Swords of Sanghelios were limited to a half dozen Phantoms and two dozen scattered smaller craft. They had the blades, just not the busses. When he'd said he'd be risking his entire force, he'd been putting his credits where his mouth was.

The Chief watched out the side of the drop bay as the Phantom he and Cortana had hitched a ride on broke through the cloud later. The triple suns that Urs orbited around painted the evening sky in bruise purple and fiery orange. Or was that blood orange?

"You know, for a city crawling with angry homicidal Covenant, Sunaion really is a feat of engineering. The amount of work that must have gone into keeping it stable must have been tremendous."

And some people had no eye for color. John glanced down at Cortana tucked in beside him, lightrifle in hand as they approached the city. Sensing his eyes on her she looked up, a flicker of a glance and a smile before they both returned their eyes to the city.

"Something on your mind?"

_Thank you for trying to make things normal again._ "Nothing."

"Oh, I'm sorry, is my appreciation for fine engineering boring you?" She nudged his side with her elbow, not even budging him. "I'm sure you'll have plenty more fun when we blow our way through it."

Sudden thunder shook the air, drawing their attention outwards. No, not thunder. Anti-aircraft fire. They'd been spotted. The channel the Swords had been using came alive with chatter, orders to change course and swing wide around the city while still avoiding the Cruisers parked on her other side. Metal clanked behind them as the Arbiter drew near. The Chief turned his head to nod respectfully in greeting, Cortana keeping watch on the exploding plasma charges headed their way. They would be over the drop point in under a minute, and the Arbiter and his Swords would be joining them on the courtyard for the first push. After that they would be on their own.

So, a Tuesday.

"The Covenant fight with all they are to keep this city," the Sangheili pointed out, "As the Prophets did once before them."

"They'll meet the same end." The Chief replied. The Arbiter nodded in acceptance of this truth and saw no need to counter it. They watched the city approach for a moment before he spoke again.

"Before this begins there is one thing I would ask of you, Spartan," the Arbiter said. The Chief turned his head; the pair of them watched one another for a few long moments before the Arbiter asked, "What is your name?"

Beside him, Cortana made a soft noise of surprise. John blinked.

"Why do you ask?"

"So that we may record it in our histories," the Arbiter said, "As the human man who broke the back of the Covenant not once, but twice. And as the warrior who, despite the war and countless dead behind him, still turned to his once mortal enemy as an ally. Perhaps even as a friend." The Arbiter inclined his head. Then he reached forward with a three fingered hand. Not a warrior's clasp but a human handshake.

For a few seconds, John said nothing, did nothing. He contemplated the Arbiter's words, turning them over in his head, and wondered. It was true: for most of his life, he'd fought the Covenant. He'd lost family to them, Sam to them, and had been ready to lay down his life fighting them just so humanity could survive.

And yet, here they were. Standing on the same world, on the same ship, with the same goal, for the second time. Their paths to the end were different now, but maybe the road that came after that…he nodded.

"I'll tell you when we come back," He said, reaching forward to give the Arbiter's hand one firm shake. "After it's over."

The Arbiter barked out a laugh. Clacking his mandibles, the Sangheili shook his head.

"Very well, Spartan," He said, "And then I shall tell you mine. Now go," He let go of John's hand. "And good hunting to you both. Let us meet again on the other side."

"We will, Arbiter," Cortana said, "Thank you."

With a final nod the Arbiter turned and rallied his troops to the edge of the Phantom. The Sangheili roared their battle cry loud enough to shake the air as their pilot dove the Phantom down close enough to make a survivable leap; taking Cortana into one arm the Chief leapt clean off the edge, the Arbiter and his strike force close on their heels. They dove, headed for the city below, but the Covenant had been ready for them.

"Swords of Sanghelios, on me!" The Arbiter ordered, his forces scattering to avoid being cooked by the barrage of plasma shot that seared through the evening air. The rapid fire thumping of the AA gun at the other end of the courtyard nearly matched the rapid beat of the Chief's heart. Open combat was something he was good at, especially against the Covenant. This? This he could do something about. "For Sanghelios!"

"Chief, the AA gun!" Cortana marked it on his HUD, and when he let go of her she scrambled forward into cover, peering out long enough only to shoot a charging Grunt clean through the head. Unprimed plasma grenades rolled down a flight of stairs, clattering towards them, "If they don't go down the fleet can't get close!"

"Copy that," the Chief replied, eying the space between them and the gun. Eighty meters of enemy held territory, plasma firing in all directions and an allied force in need of support. Despite himself, one corner of his mouth twitched upwards. Forget a Tuesday, this was a Friday. "Stay on my six. Keep watch for enemy reinforcements."

A green light flashed in the corner of his HUD and the Chief charged forward. The steady bark of his AR was nearly soothing, familiar in how it moved and behaved beneath his hands. He ducked low as a Jackal attempted to get lucky, a shot of blue hard-light searing through the bird-like alien's wrist and making it drop its shield. It didn't last long after that, one of the Swords severing head from shoulders. The Chief didn't take the time to acknowledge the kill and kept moving, taking shots at any target that got in his way. Motion in his periphery had him swinging around to fire, only to catch himself as a Sword blazed past in hot pursuit of a fleeing Grunt. The Chief took half a second to exhale and then got back to the fight, taking down a charging Grunt headed for the Arbiter's flank. The smaller alien screamed as it went down, primed plasma grenades going off with twin bangs. The guns fired again, a Banshee taking a hit on a wing and going down hard into a wall.

"Take out the air defenses!" The Arbiter roared over the open channel, "The power supply at its base is its weakness!"

"We're on it!" Cortana called back, reappearing at his side in a flash of blue. She held a primed plasma grenade in one hand and let it fly into a morass of Grunts rushing in from a lower door before gesturing over her shoulder, "Go, Chief! I'll hold the stairs!"

With a nod the Chief hurried up the rest of the way, slowing as he reached the base of the cannon. Standard Covenant construction, it seemed. Power cables, plasma coils, and some sort of basic targeting software controlled elsewhere on the station. If they could find that they'd take the whole lot of them apart but for the moment…well. He knew how to handle this sort of thing.

Pulling a frag grenade off his thigh mag-lock the Chief primed and threw the explosive, leaping back out of range. Less than two seconds later it went off, shredding the internal workings of the cannon. Superheated plasma exploded in all directions, frying what little had survived and lighting up the area in blazing white. The Chief's visor hurriedly polarized to compensate, the heat of the blast setting off warnings in his visor. He dismissed them with a thought, ears ringing in the silence that followed.

"Area secure," Cortana announced, hurrying up the stairs towards him. They shared a quick appraising look and finding no damage on either she continued to the door at the top of the stairs. "This door will get us to where we need to go."

"Our path takes us in another direction," the Arbiter said, "but there are more air defenses along the route ahead."

"We'll take them out as we go." the Chief said with a nod. The Arbiter nodded firmly in return.

"Good luck to you, Spartan, Construct."

"You too."

Leaving the Arbiter to rally his troops for the next battle, the Chief headed up the last flight of steps after Cortana. She was waiting at the already open door, head tilted just so. He opened the vid-link in time to catch her smirking and raised an eyebrow.

"What?"

"Nothing," She said amusedly, "I'm just so proud of you. You made a friend!"

John rolled his eyes as she laughed, that sound curling around his heart like sunbeams breaking through the clouds. He cradled it close for two precious seconds before setting it aside somewhere safe. It was time to get back to work.

"Set waypoints on any cannons you can find," the Chief said, reloading his rifle, "We'll have to fight our way through to them."

"Understood. Marking the nearest emplacements on your HUD." Three markers showed up on the level below and ahead of them. She passed him an unprimed plasma grenade that he locked to his thigh mag-lock. "Honestly, if I ever meet whichever member of the Covenant designed those things, I'm going to shake their hand and thank them."

"Why?"

"Because they're big, filled with plasma, and have a very noticeable power source on the rear." Her smirk grew wider, "And because they make a really big bang when you blow them up." Passing behind him she reached up to pat his shoulder, letting him know that she had his six. "I'd ask you to save me some fun, but I know how much you love blowing things up."

"Maybe I can be persuaded." She hummed, unconvinced. "Maybe."

Her snicker echoed through the channel as they started forward. All amusement fled as the door on the other side of the small entryway opened up, a half dozen Grunts spilling through with their pistols at the ready. Hot green plasma seared across his armor and his shields whined; acting fast the Chief slammed the butt of his rifle into one's head, knocking it down, before reaching out and grabbing the next one. With a quick underhand throw he sent the meter tall alien colliding with its fellows. Blue hard-light sliced across his vision as Cortana opened fire, hitting one of the methane tanks and sending a third spinning. The enclosed space worked against them and the spinning alien slammed into all of its fellows with a cacophony of screams. The Chief made quick work of putting the stunned combatants down, shields recharging even as he kept them moving forward.

It was all over in less then ten seconds and nothing worth talking about. The two of them hurried forward as the Swords of Sanghelios began to check in, small craft soaring through the skies in tight dogfights with the Covenant forces. The Chief took the steps six at a time and headed for the nearby archway that lead to the next pavilion, an AA gun screaming into the evening just beyond.

"Jackals on the left. Moving to intercept!"

A flash of blue veered off to his left. The Chief kept moving, heading for the rear of the cannon. The second verse was the same as the first, the blast just as searingly bright as the one before when he took down its inner workings. Surviving Grunts screamed, clutching at their eyes, and he put them down before they could recover. He turned to help Cortana but she had already cleared her targets and picked up their scattered munitions, tossing him a fully charged plasma pistol as he drew near. He'd make use of this.

"Cortana to Swords of Sanghelios, air defenses are down on our position. Sending cleared coordinates for a second drop."

" _Confirmed, Construct,_ " one of the pilots replied, " _Sending support._ "

Before the Chief could answer a shot of plasma scored across his shoulder plate, sending them darting for cover. A red tag lit up on the level above them, the second story to one of the buildings across the street. Cortana marked a gravlift on the lower level and took up covering position behind a nearby pillar. When he signaled he was ready to move she spun on one heel, firing up to the window where the sniper was based and forced the alien into cover. The Chief rushed forward, hitting the lift and was still moving when it carried him up. Red lit up on his motion tracker, the sniper rushing for a different vantage point and not seeing the Chief until it was too late. The Jackal's thin bones snapped beneath his hand, three more targets lighting up in red further along the building and in the one opposite. Snipers sighting targets. Cortana was forced to stay in cover as the Chief pressed on, falling into the easy rhythm of combat.

Out the window, rifle up, snipe the target. Switch to the next on the same side—duck behind cover, plasma searing the air. Back out of cover, shoot while reloading. Second target down. Continue along the balcony, reach into the window and grab—jaw, not neck. Good enough. Snap bones, check for remaining targets. None on this level, get back to the ground floor. Cortana came to meet him as three Banshees landed in the pavilion behind him, three Sangheili clambering out and opening fire on the rush of Covenant forces spilling out from doors on the lower level.

"Continue forward, Spartan!" One of the Sangheili shouted at him, "We will hold them here!"

"Understood."

The city shook from the force of the battles taking place all across it as the Chief and Cortana continued forward, the familiar thud of landing insertion pods causing him to look up. Contrails put them down in another sector.

"The Arbiter's over there."

"He is," Cortana confirmed, "And it looks to me like he's giving them hell." She narrowed her eyes at one of the Covenant cruisers blotting out the evening sky. "Would be nice if they'd all come down here and play fair."

"It's the Covenant. They don't know that word."

Or how to die quietly. Coming out onto another open-air pavilion the Chief and Cortana were forced into the fray once more. Plasma, hard-light, and bullets sliced through the air in well practiced movements. Elites barked at their Grunts and Jackals, orders to keep moving forward or try to flank the pair that was tearing through their ranks, but it didn't matter much in the end. Fighting Covenant was something the two of them were used to; it wasn't even a footnote by this point as they continued to make their way through the city.

One pavilion after another, the two of them pushed their way forward. More than one cannon fell beneath their combined assault, the Swords of Sanghelios retaking the city building by building, the skies ship by ship. For all the might of the Covenant in this city, they were no match for the more determined, better disciplined fighters of the Swords and their allies. The Chief had to wonder if that was because 'Mdama was still on Requiem, or if these were just the bottom of the barrel when it came to the Covenant's forces. He'd ask Cortana about it later.

For now, they continued to push into the city, their path leading them on a wide circle around its western edge. All forward momentum ground to a halt as they came to a pavilion with three of the cannons perched along the pedestal like platforms the city was built on. Covenant forces turned and opened concentrated fire on them as they tried to step through the archway that would let them inside, forcing them back. Cortana hissed angrily.

"Miserable little—" She tossed a plasma grenade through the arch, catching a squad of Grunts and buying them two seconds. She glanced back and said, "I've got an idea and you're not going to like it."

The Chief opened fire on another squad, snatching a quick look at her. He knew that frustrated expression too well. She was about to cause some real damage if he let her. That she'd let him know at all told him she would hang back if he asked her to, but they couldn't hold this position and if those cannons stayed up…

"What's your plan?"

"I go in while you keep them busy, tag the cannons, and let the Swords come in for clean-up."

A valid plan, and one he'd have done if he could. He quickly scoped out the pavilion, took in the numbers headed their way and one barely visible turret pointed at the arch, and grimaced to himself. If he could have, he would have. But since he was still limited by the laws of physics with regards to his movement capabilities, he'd have to let her do it. He palmed a grenade off his thigh and passed it to her.

"No heroics. In and out."

She nodded firmly. "In and out. You won't even notice I'm gone."

No chance of that. She vanished in a flash of blue, her short range flash-jumps carrying her into the pavilion. Grunts squealed as she landed in their midst but before they could turn and fire on her she vanished again, heading for the first of the cannons. The Chief followed her in, covering her with a hail of plasma and gunfire. He tele-hailed his systems and tagged her as a priority target, her marker moving swiftly from cover to cover. The Covenant tried to keep up with her, but any who turned their attention towards her and away from the Chief paid for it with their lives.

"First cannon is tagged. Going hot in three, two, one—"

Mark. The blast lit up the evening as it rocked the pavilion, knocking the unsteadier Grunts from their feet. The Chief threw another frag grenade into their midst and kept moving, keeping himself the more visible target as Cortana skirted around the outside edge towards the second cannon. Some of the Elites had caught on to her strategy and were ordering their forces to turn and head in the other direction. Grabbing another plasma grenade he tossed it long and hard, the small explosive slamming into the helmet of the ordering Elite. He screamed his rage and frustration to the skies and then—it went off.

He wouldn't be causing trouble anymore. The Grunts that had been following his command instantly broke rank, scattering. The Chief let them be for the moment and hurried forward, rushing through a volley of turret fire. His shields whined, screamed, then went dark before he could reach any sizable cover, causing him to grumble quietly. That turret was going to be a problem. Reloading his rifle he slotted it back onto his mag-lock and palmed the plasma pistol she had given him.

"Second cannon is tagged. Going hot in three, two, one—"

In the same instant that the second blast lit the air, the Chief pivoted around his cover and held down the trigger on the pistol. Plasma began to gather between the two points on the muzzle, quickly taking up an overcharge, and as the light began to fade he let it fly. The Jackal on the turret turned at the last possible second, taking the blast dead on the face. Its body went flying off the gunner's chair, leaving him clear to press up the other side and cover her final approach. Cortana reappeared in his line of sight as a flare of bright blue light, tossing the final primed grenade into the inner workings of the last cannon.

"Last cannon is tagged! Going hot in three, two, one—"

Mark. Anyone standing too close to the blast went flying, screaming Covenant sent over the edge and into the sea below. The few who remained were marked in red on his HUD, making them easy pickings as the two of them exchanged targeting data. When the last Grunt went down, the Chief looked down at Cortana.

"Have fun?"

"Actually? Yes." She grinned cheekily up at him. "I'm starting to see why you enjoy blowing things up so much."

"Told you I could be persuaded to share."

With a laugh she knocked her shoulder into his chest plate, shaking her head. Holding that precious sound close to his heart, the Chief opened the channel to the Swords.

"Arbiter, cannons offline at our position. We're sending coordinates."

" _My troops will arrive shortly_ ," the Arbiter replied, not even the slightest bit winded, " _Proceed towards the Guardian. Sensors are beginning to show activity in the sea._ "

Listening to the same channel he was Cortana glanced up at him, wide-eyed. If the Swords were still here when the Guardian came online, then they'd be exposed to the same pulses as the Covenant. There'd be no cover for them in Sunaion.

"Arbiter," the Chief started, "When the Guardian comes online it fires off a series of EMP blasts. If you move your ships out of the way, the Covenant will be forced to take the hit first."

" _Victory and honor do not grow from timid seeds, Master Chief,_ " the Arbiter replied, " _Your harvest, and ours, shall be grand indeed. Do not fear: we will meet again._ "

The channel went dark. Friendly Phantoms were coming in for landings along the outer edge of the pavilion, Sangheili filing off to clear the Covenant that remained in this sector. Some nodded respectfully at the Chief and Cortana, others walked past like they weren't even there. The Chief shook his head.

"We need to hurry."

"Fastest way to the target is by cutting across the city through…here," Cortana snapped her fingers. A copy of the map appeared on his HUD, revealing a diverging path through the lower level of the city. "It'll be full of Covenant but it's a straight shot to the Guardian's pavilion on the other side. Goods odds we'll make it on time."

"Then we take that route." The Chief turned around, looking for a flight of stairs or an—there. Elevator control panel. "Grab what you can and fall in. Fifteen seconds."

"Only need five."

Only four seconds passed before she joined him on the elevator, passing him a fallen beam rifle. He checked the charge—87%—and nodded, slinging it onto his rear mag-locks. Once they were both safely on the platform he started them down, the pair of them running through quick weapon and ammo checks. His UNSC weapons had run dry; he'd have to start scrounging for Covenant weaponry from now on. Or switch to Forerunner like she did, since she seemed to be having no trouble with keeping topped up.

"Need a restock?" She asked with a cheeky smile. John rolled his eyes, jostling her with his shoulder.

"Stay focused."

"Oh, I'm perfectly focused," She retorted, "I'm also not the one who went through most of his ammunition back there. Sure you don't want to switch to the never ending spring of guns and explosives yet?"

No. "Plasma works just fine."

"Stubborn." She said fondly, shaking her head. She jostled him in return even though her arm only reached his midsection. He didn't even sway with the force. "Well, let me know if you change your mind."

Maybe later. For now they still had a job to do. The elevator began to slow, doors opening to let them out on the level below. The evening sky had been hidden by the platforms that made up the pavilions of the upper level, tube-like buildings built onto another layer of platforms, with the struts jutting down into the frothy waves below. There would be no coming back from a fall off this edge, he thought. They'd have to be careful.

"Strange," Cortana said, "I'd have expected a welcoming party…I guess they must all be busy upstairs."

"Whatever gets us there fastest." The Chief glanced up. A voice was playing through loudspeakers, the usual motivational fare of the Covenant and their inability to fail. John nearly rolled his eyes; which side was the one that had won the war in the end? And Cortana called him stubborn. "Watch your step."

"Who's the one who can teleport?" She muttered, but fell in behind him as he headed across the nearby bridge. He knew she'd probably be able to get herself back up easier than he could, but he'd still rather not test it anytime soon. The thought was quickly boxed away as motion caught his attention in the same instant that she snapped, "Hostiles! Elites, twelve o'clock!"

The Chief opened fire, hurrying through the nearest archway and onto the next platform. Years of fearing the Demon kept their attention firmly on him, giving Cortana time and space to get to cover before she opened fire, taking wild, distracting potshots as he took the more direct approach down the middle. Some of the Jackals caught sight of her and tried to take her down, but she proved too hard a target to hit, vanishing into the blue before they could properly sight her. Her constant movement threw them off guard, flashes of light catching the Elite's attention, and the Chief had his window of opportunity.

It wasn't long before the first platform was clear. They pressed onto the next, slipping into the two pronged assault formation like they had been doing it all their lives. Slowly, John could feel his last remaining concerns for her safety loosening their grip. It was true that he would always worry about her, but she had proven herself as capable as any of his Spartans. She was his partner in every sense of the word and had earned that armor.

"Dropship on approach!"

The Chief stomped on his mental tangent and wrenched his focus back around. One target after another fell as they pushed their way forward across the ringed platforms that made up the Undercity. The Chief consulted his map as the last of a stubborn platoon fell: they were nearly to the elevator that would take them back up.

" _Spartan,_ " the Arbiter's voice suddenly broke through the channel, " _Be aware: new enemies join the battles above. Armored, glowing._ "

Damn. Cortana hissed furiously and shook her head. Not hers. The Chief grit his teeth.

"Prometheans. We'll be ready, Arbiter."

The channel went dark again. The Chief looked at his partner and frowned.

"Is the Didact on station?"

"No," Cortana shook her head again, "It could be a defensive tactic, or some kind of remote activation protocol. I won't know without getting closer." Her eyes narrowed. "All the more reason to hurry. If he's figured out how to turn them on at a distance, our ride might leave without us."

"Then we move. Double time it."

There was no need to say anything further. The two of them sprinted forward, all attempts at subtlety abandoned. The Covenant that rushed to meet them rushed to meet their ends soon after, bodies littered with scorch marks and plasma burns. Every meter they pushed forward was another meter closer to the Guardian. They would get there in time.

They had to.

The Covenant must have felt the same way about stopping them. When they had almost reached the elevator that would take them back up the platform shook with the familiar roar of a Hunter on approach. The Chief slid to a halt from a dead sprint, scanning the area. Where were they—there!

"Hunters! Fall back!"

"Copy that," Cortana had also slid to a halt; dropping low and reaching out with one hand she skidded and turned a hundred and eighty degrees, popping back to her feet, "I'm going high! Don't get your head shot off!"

"No promises."

She flashed a red light at him in exasperation, flashing blue and away out of his periphery as she scrambled to find higher, safer ground. The Chief stayed where he was for the most part, backing up only a few steps as the familiar whoomph of a Fuel Rod Cannon filled the twilight air. Bright green plasma seared to where he had been standing just moments before, both Hunters pressing forward towards him. He had the benefit of being smaller and more maneuverable than their lumbering forms, but they had higher ground than he did and they weren't about to give it up. They took up position on the top edge of the nearby ramp, both cannons primed and ready to fire.

"HEY!" Cortana shouted over the open air, "OVER HERE, YOU OVERGROWN WORM NEST!"

More intrigued by the sound than her words one of the Hunters turned, trusting its bond brother to cover its back, and the Chief seized his opportunity. Overloading the plasma pistol for the second time he darted out of cover just long enough to fire at the Hunter's exposed backside, taking out a good chunk of the orange worms in the process. It wasn't enough to take it down, but it was enough that it stumbled. The other one roared in what might have been concern, stopping its attack, and the Chief took the chance to fall back to a more advantageous position. Cortana's marker was doing the same, blue flashes headed across the upper level. A red outline surrounded the wounded Hunter as she marked it as priority target; he flashed her a green light as he slid into cover. Taking up his Beam Rifle he peered down the scope.

Neither of them were Linda, but a target that big was impossible to miss. Both opened fire at the same instant, focusing fire on the already burned worms. Like driving the knife into a gaping wound it worsened the damage, driving the Hunter further towards the ground. The Chief had to move as its partner bombarded his position with radioactive plasma, covering its fallen friend. Cortana turned her attention to the one firing on him, peppering its armored head with hard-light. It turned on her next, buying him time to get to more secure cover. He flashed a green light at her, receiving one in return, and returned his attention to the wounded Hunter. It had barely gotten back to its feet before he shot it again, knocking it back to its knees. Torn between two foes the other Hunter roared in fury and began to charge, huge feet thundering down the ramp. It rushed past the Chief's cover, rattling the platform; he had to move!

With Cortana laying down covering fire, the Chief hurried to a better position. Once he was out of immediate danger he turned to the downed Hunter. It had struggled back to its feet, but in turned to take out Cortana whilst its parter was busy with him, it had exposed itself. The Chief took his chances and shot quickly, one blast of plasma after the next. The weapon in his hands was nearly too hot to handle before it finally dropped with a moan.

"First Hunter is down," Cortana confirmed as the large alien fell limp onto its front. Sensing the death of its partner the other turned, stared, then roared in grief and fury. Something in John's chest twinged at the sound; loss was universal across species. At least this Hunter wouldn't have to live long without its brother. She tagged it and added, "Ammo's low. I can drop a cannon?"

Whatever got it done faster. "Do it."

A bright blue flash dropped next to him. Without bothering to look the Chief grabbed it, HUD instantly responding to the Incineration Cannon she had just dropped into his lap. A full charge straight into its back would do the job, but its movements had become to erratic in its fury. He didn't have a clean shot! Didn't matter. He'd make do. Making sure he had the center of his target sighted, the Chief pulled the trigger. With a sound that was quickly becoming familiar the Cannon let loose a volley of bright blue hard-light. It soared across the open space between him and the Hunter, catching it dead in its huge abdomen, but the creature was far too sturdy to go down in only one shot. It turned on him, armor smoking, and the Chief pulled the trigger again, and again, and again. Violet armor fell away, shattering beneath the volley, and it turned fully to face him.

That would be its last mistake.

In the same instant that the Chief pulled the trigger on his last shot, Cortana pulled the trigger on her first. The two volleys of hard-light seared through the Hunter's middle, cutting it clean in half. Gravity took care of the rest; wet, slimy thuds confirmed the two halves had fallen to the ground, worms slipping down the ramp. When the Chief pinged his motion tracker, it found no mobile targets.

"Area secure," he announced, getting back to his feet. He watched the Hunters for another few moments just to be sure before he headed out of cover. Cortana appeared by the elevator doors, lightrifle back in hand. "Let's move."

It was telling that she had no snarky comment about just waiting on him, the look in her eyes distant and dark as they boarded the elevator. She shook her head when he opened his mouth, in no mood to talk about it. He sighed quietly and made a note to try and talk about it later. He opened a channel to the Arbiter.

"Arbiter, do you copy?"

Static burst down the line; they both flinched at the noise. The Arbiter's voice could barely break through the chaff. " _Master Chief—near the Guardian—killing everyone!_ "

"The Prometheans?"

Static was the only answer they received. Cortana shook her head and headed for the elevator panel, disengaging safety locks to speed up their ascent. It cut their travel time in half, the doors opening almost too slowly for the Chief to stand. Cortana slid through the moment they had opened enough, leaving him to follow in her wake. The elevator had dropped them off inside a large structure, some sort of building or temple. The halls were quiet, too quiet, as they hurried through them. Down one corridor, through an archway, and then—

"Stop!"

The Chief reached out and hauled Cortana back by the back of her collar. She yipped in alarm but kept her footing, having seen what he'd seen at the last second.

Destruction. Pure and utter destruction. This building had been turned into a makeshift shelter for the Swords on this side of the city and something had torn through them like wet tissue paper. Bodies were strewn all across the lowest level, some intact and others not. All bore the tell-tale signs of hard-light damage. The Chief scowled: they'd seen this before.

"Soldiers did this."

"The Didact's Legion," Cortana confirmed, going down to a crouch near one of the fallen Elites. She closed his eyes and scanned the room. "The Arbiter's not here."

Which meant he was out in the city somewhere. The Chief tried to raise him, but the only answer was static. Cortana shook her head, unable to clean the signal up. They'd have to get closer. With any luck, the Arbiter would have continued on towards the Guardian and they'd find him still fighting on the way. John didn't want to think about the alternative just yet.

"Come on," the Chief said, "We have a schedule to keep."

Without pausing to look back the two of them hurried from the structure and back onto the streets. No sooner had they turned the corner did the air itself seem to shake; in the corner of the Chief's HUD, Cortana's eyes went wide.

"You've got to be kidding me—"

Her words were drowned out beneath the noise of the Guardian's song, the note vibrating through John's bones. Bornstellar snapped to attention in the back of his mind, beyond alarmed that another had been activated so quickly after the last. John paid him no mind, focused on Cortana. She was upright and vibrant, unaffected by the sound. Maybe they were too far? He wished she vitals he could pin to keep an eye on! Before he could stop her she rushed on ahead.

"Come on!" She shouted, "Before it gets away!"

Within two strides he'd caught up and pulled ahead, blood running cold as they rushed through the next archway and came out onto the next street just as the Guardian began to rise out of the ocean. If he set aside the Covenant and Sword ships scrambling to get away from it it was an exact match to the one in Meridian, right down to the glowing orange lines steadily growing in power. Cortana swore fiercely and threw open a wide-band channel.

"Guardian rising! All forces get to cover! Arbiter, the Guardian is—"

She was cut off by the firing of the Guardians' first pulse. Maybe at a greater distance the ships would have been immune, but up so close to the massive construct nothing could withstand the blast. Ships were sent reeling out of control, sent into the walls of the nearby towers. Like Meridian before it, Sunaion shook. The roads buckled and cracked, ancient construction giving way beneath the force of the blast. The Chief braced himself with his legs and reached out to brace Cortana; she grunted, stumbling backwards, and reached up to grab his arm. Her face had lost some color but she was still standing this time, fury flashing across her eyes.

"Oh, you are not getting away this time—come on!"

This time he took off running right beside her, the two of them scrambling over the broken street. The Phantoms that had survived the initial blast blazed overhead and away from the Guardian, unwilling to meet the same fates as their fellows. Covenant screams echoed through the streets as another pulse brought down two of the tallest buildings, dust raining down on their heads. Cortana stumbled, caught herself, and kept running. He kept half an eye on her at all times, even as they had to leap a break in the road and slide down the resulting ramp that had been created on the other side. When another section of the upper roadway collapsed in front of them, the Chief pivoted towards an open door.

"Through here," He commanded, sliding down the broken floor of the building and down into the lower level. A flash of orange had him bringing his weapon up and barking, "Crawlers!"

The lithe four-legged constructs instantly turned on them, turning what had been a dead sprint into a sudden fight for every inch. Cortana leapt from point to point, distracting them, while the Chief took them down as fast as he could. No sooner had the last one been dispatched did another song ring through the air. Cortana whipped around and braced herself before he could reach her, but the rubble of the building must have shielded her from the worst of it because she didn't even stumble. It wasn't destroying Sunaion like the other had destroyed Meridian? Maybe his luck was holding after all.

"Three pulses, then the jump," She muttered, then swore and said, "We've got to hurry! If we lose that ride we're all dead!"

The Chief scanned the room, pinging his map. They needed to get back up a level but how—there. "This way."

Cortana hurried to his side, flash-jumping up the rumble that he had to scramble up. A familiar shout yanked their attention to the nearby doorway: the Arbiter was alive! The Chief hurried forward.

"Arbiter!"

Battle-worn and bloodied, the Arbiter inclined his head in greeting as if he hadn't just stabbed a Knight clean through the neck with his energy sword. He quickly appraised their status, then looked to the Guardian's massive form as it continued to rise from the sea. His slit-pupil eyes narrowed angrily at it, but before he could open his mouth—

"Contacts!" Cortana shouted, "Prometheans inbound!"

"Clear them out!" the Arbiter ordered in return, rushing into the fray, "You cannot allow them to stop you here!"

And they sure as hell weren't going to let them go without a fight. Leaving Cortana to keep the higher ground in cover, the Chief rushed down after the Arbiter. Though it had been years since they had fought together, the two of them slipped back into the same routine and rhythm they had made as if it had only been hours instead. The Prometheans were clearly unused to such a unified assault; Crawlers tried to rush them and were slaughtered, Knights tried to jump them and were shot down, their Watchers shot out of the sky by Cortana at the back. A particularly stubborn Soldier tried to get the jump on the Arbiter, but with a furious roar he turned and tossed the construct into a slab of rubble. Before it could recover, the Chief took its head off.

Together, the three of them pressed their assault. In the ocean beside them the Guardian continued to rise, massive wings spreading into the evening sky. The glow at its chest was growing in size and strength; Bornstellar paced the edges of John's mind like a caged tiger, helpless and frustrated and unable to do anything but watch. The Chief grit his teeth.

"Cortana, time?"

"One minute, max!"

They had to move faster than this. Breaking onto the next platform the Chief paused only long enough to consider the Guardian. It was already too high out of the ocean to reach its head, but it was still close enough that he could get them both across with his thruster pack. So long as it rose no higher, they could make it!

But it meant leaving now, and there were too many Prometheans for them to do that. They didn't have time to clear them all out! Cortana, well aware of that fact, swore fiercely from her position behind them. The Arbiter spat an invective in Sangheili and then clapped his hand to the Chief's shoulder.

"You must go," he commanded, "I will hold them here, Spartan. Your fight lies beyond this place."

"There's too many. You won't be able to—"

The third and final song cut the Chief off, another pulse sending them all reeling. They were out of time! The Arbiter flared his mandibles furiously.

"Go!"

"Chief!" Cortana had rushed down the steps ahead of them, turning to look back, "Chief, we have to go now!"

There was no time! John closed his eyes for half a second, wondering if things would always be this way, before he nodded firmly. The Arbiter returned his nod and let go. With a furious roar he charged into the fray with a furious roar, drawing all Promethean attention to himself. His energy sword carved through the air, tearing Prometheans apart. Unwilling to waste the time he was buying them, the Chief rushed forwards to Cortana. She knew what they were doing and met him halfway, wrapping her arms around his neck, holding on for dear life as he rushed to the edge of the platform. A Soldier called out for them to stop, to halt this senseless path, but he paid the construct no mind.

"Push all non-essential power to the thrusters," he ordered her, watching his shields drain away. Systems shouted at him for the rough treatment but he ignored them. Calculations and guidance flashed across his visor. Thirty meters to the platform's edge. Twenty. The Guardian was nearly out of reach! "Hang on."

Her grip around his neck tightened. Reaching the edge of the platform he leapt! Momentum carried him only part of the way, and at the top of his arc he keyed his thrusters to maximum. Another system screamed as they burned hotter than they had been designed to do, threatening to damage internal workings if they burned for too long. That was fine. He only needed a few seconds to correct his approach. Once his angle was correct he cut power to the thruster pack, sending them into a freefall.

With both arms wrapped tight around Cortana, the Chief plunged into the light in the center of the Guardian's chest. Everything went white.


	13. Chapter 13

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> cw: graphic description of injury (impalement, cauterization, massive fall damage.)

"Press forward! Do not allow them to reach the Reclaimer!"

"There is nowhere to run! Submit and face your deaths with—"

The Soldier shouting over the rush of battle was cut off by an exploding plasma grenade, sent reeling back into its orange lined fellows. They tumbled into a pile of limbs and back down the hill, giving the Chief a few precious seconds to reload his weapons. That had been his last grenade. The Carbine he'd come through with was at 20% charge, his sidearm down to a single clip. If they didn't get out of this mess fast, they weren't going to get out of it at all.

"Eta," He commanded, "Flank left. Drive them out of cover."

"It will be done, Didact," the lead of Cortana's three Soldiers snapped back, ordering its fellows into a flanking maneuver. He wasn't sure how the three of them had survived days in enemy territory the way they had, but he wasn't about to look a gift tank in the gun. Speaking of tanks…

"Cortana, how's it coming?"

"Getting there!" She called back, elbow deep in the wiring of the Scorpion they'd landed on. The Guardian had dropped them off on a landing platform, dumping pieces of Sunaion all around them, but it hadn't been the first Guardian to arrive there. Others had come dragging parts of the worlds they had left behind, and one of them had been so kind as to dump a Scorpion on the landing platform as well. It was damaged, dented and scored with hard-light burns, but they built those to last. It would run as soon as she had it set to fire. "Two more minutes!"

Red flared on his motion tracker. Three more squads of the Didact's Legion headed their way. The Chief set his shoulders and darted out of cover, shooting at them to get their attention as he ran across the field. The tactic worked: all twelve of them turned to him and opened fire on him rather than Cortana, leaving them open to Eta coming up behind them. Organized chaos took control of the battlefield; despite being outnumbered and outgunned, the four of them weren't outmatched or outplanned. The Chief darted into cover and sighted a single target, using Bornstellar's knowledge of the Soldier's weakpoints and targeting them specifically. Though his target's hard-light shot scraped across the Chief's shoulders and helmet, it buckled beneath the steady stream of plasma fire from his Carbine and vanished back into the Domain. Each fallen Soldier bought them a few extra seconds and the Chief wasn't going to waste them.

When his Carbine no longer had a charge he dropped it, snatching the lightrifle tossed in his direction by one of Eta's members. They weren't Blue Team, but in the few minutes they had been fighting together they'd fallen into their own combat rhythm. He covered one of their members and then pivoted into the open, fighting for every step forward. Down at the base of the hill, another three squads of the Didact's Legion phased into view to replace those that had been felled in battle. The Chief grit his teeth.

"Eta, fall back!" He commanded. They darted back in streaks of blue light. "Cortana…"

"Almost—ha!" She crowed triumphantly. The Scorpion's engine roared to life, treads grinding across the muddy terrain ahead. "Got it! Get down!"

The Chief threw himself to the ground. Half an instant later, hard-light seared across where he had been standing. The glowing slug crashed into the lead squad of the Didact's Legion, shattering the lead Soldier and sending the rest flying from the force of the blast. He scrambled back to his feet and opened fire on the rear squads as the Scorpion continued to fire; Eta fell in beside him, holding the line while Cortana got the tank into position. Aiming down the slope of the hill she rained down glowing hellfire on any Soldier stupid enough to hold still. One tried to get lucky and charge the Chief in a flare of orange light but he was ready. Ducking beneath another slug he took the construct by the shoulder. Kneeing it in the middle he bent it over his leg, driving his fists into its back. Armor caved beneath his gauntleted fists and he ripped the hard-light out of its back, sending it tumbling back into the Domain. His motion tracker flashed blue as it could detect no more hostile contacts. Eta scanned the area, then lowered their guns.

"All hostiles eliminated," the leader of the squad announced. The Scorpion's engine continued to rumble as Cortana popped the gunner's hatch, clambering out to sit on the edge with a cheeky grin. "Area secure, Reclaimer."

"Good work, boys. Now ready up—we move in sixty."

The Chief locked his rifle to his back as he made his way to the Scorpion. Cortana shifted aside as he climbed up the side, the higher vantage point giving him a clear view of the path ahead. Genesis was a rough garden world, all rocky cliffsides covered in plush green grass and hollow trees. Banks of wispy clouds pushed through a pale blue sky marred by clouds of small Forerunner drones flying this way and that. They veered aside suddenly as the sky was torn open by another slipspace rupture, a Guardian slipping through. Debris rained down near its position, though he couldn't tell what kind it was from here.

"That's seven."

"Seven so far," Cortana pointed out, eyes narrowed as they watched it fly to the north. The Guardian they had arrived on had gone in the same direction. "I can't even say he's on that one, either. Stubborn bastard must have figured out to activate them with the Soldiers."

"They can activate them?"

"Not personally, no, but they're Constructs. It's not impossible to use them as mobile terminals if you really wanted to."

Which meant the Didact would be able to activate more of them without needing to be there in person. The rate at which he could activate them would exponentially increase, and with that the amount of damage done to the colonies. The amount of people that would die as a result of the activations would increase as well. The Chief gripped the edge of the hatch tightly, metal creaking beneath his fingers. Cortana put a hand on his and he forcibly shoved the thought aside. They would finish this today.

"Do you know where he is?"

"No, but I can find out." Bracing herself with her legs she used both hands to pull up a section of the Janus Map, zooming in with a gesture until they had a clear view of their location on-site. Location and topography were clearly marked, both in the immediate area and for the rest of the planet as well. The Chief leaned in for a closer look, twisting it around until north was at the top. They they were on the landing platform, Cortana and her Soldiers marked in blue. There was the newest Guardian above them in yellow. It was headed north. If they followed its path…

"There." He zoomed the map out for a larger view, revealing the large structure up ahead. The holographic representation glowed a stark yellow, dozens of yellow dots milling around outside it. Whatever it was it was massive; the holographic map wasn't to scale but given that the structure appeared to be roughly the size of his head the Chief would have bet his last fruit cup on it being as overblown and needlessly grandiose as every other piece of Forerunner architecture they'd seen before. Marking glyphs rotated to hover above it, his mental translation outpacing Cortana's protocols. "That's the Gateway. They're all headed towards it."

"If they're not there already." Cortana zoomed the map out a little further for a wider view. Five Guardians hung suspended around the Gateway soon to be joined by both theirs and the newest arrival. Several of the yellow dots—the Didact's Legion, if he had to guess—were headed in their direction. They'd have company soon. Cortana narrowed her eyes. "And I'd bet the Didact is in there, too."

"Which means those are his Legion."

"Or at least his very unfriendly army," She huffed out a sigh. "You know, just once once I'd like for us to land on a planet and have nothing try to kill us. Just once!"

It would have been nice. He zoomed the map out for a better look at the terrain. Genesis was a wild garden world, rounded cliffsides covered in plush grasses and odd mushroom like growths. The trees had been here for so long that they had grown into one another, forming archways and covered paths through the wild. Forerunner structures dotted the landscape, bridges and elevators and makeshift bulkheads separating the wild lands into manageable pieces no doubt filled with secrets in all their nooks and crannies. Under better circumstances he'd have enjoyed this, getting a chance to explore an unknown world with her like nothing had ever changed.

These weren't better circumstances. Everything had changed.

"Another time," He said, though they both knew the odds of that were slim at best. He set the thought, and any untimely desires, aside. "Do you have any more intel on the Gateway? Any ideas why he'd be there?"

"No. For all I know it's just some pompous way of saying _here's the elevator to this planet's core_!" She snorted quietly. "Though considering where it's built that's not too likely. Look," She zipped the map back towards the Gateway and paused it on the edge of the cliff. The anchor points of a lightbridge both glowed in the same golden yellow as every other bit of Forerunner technology, one on the edge of the main landmass and the other just outside the Gateway on an unsteady looking rock spire. "Lightbridge access only. We try to approach and we'll be target practice."

There was nothing new there, the Chief thought. He considered the map for a moment longer before twisting and turning it, looking for a way to flank and come in from the rear. Without a working craft they obviously couldn't fly in, but what about walking in? If they went down into the ravine and then climbed up the spire, maybe they could get in unseen. He pressed the map downwards but for once it had no data for him and he sat back, pensive, before he set the problem aside. They needed to get closer first. Everything else could wait.

"We'll deal with that when we get there," He said, leaning forward to plot a route. Cortana jumped in to make a few modifications to his path, and by the end of the sixty seconds they had a plan. There was no time for slow, careful going, and they'd blown their chances at stealth the second they'd dropped into the battle between Eta and the Didact's Legion, but that was fine. Spartans weren't made for stealth. Neither were Scorpion tanks. "We should get moving before—"

"Warning," one of her Soldiers interrupted, "Hostile contacts approaching. ETA fifteen seconds."

The Chief and Cortana looked down the hill. Streaks of orange light were blazing a trail towards them, and in about ten seconds they'd be all over them. They shared a glance; Cortana tilted her head in wordless question. One corner of John's mouth quirked upwards.

"I have the cannon."

"You have the cannon," She smirked in return, scrambling out of the gunner's pit and down the side of the tank. The Chief watched to make sure she made it into the cockpit before he pulled himself inside, pulling the hatch shut behind him. Screens and controls lit up all around him, the control yoke moving smoothly beneath his hands. Target indicators appeared on his main screen, the camera in the cockpit giving him a clear view of Cortana's smirking face.

"Weapons free, Chief. Let's show the Didact what humanity can really do."

Oh, they would do just that. "Going loud."

The Didact's Soldiers didn't know what hit them. A slug of compressed hard-light slammed into the lead squad, carving a hole clean through their ranks. The others behind them caught on quickly and dodged out of the way of the cannon fire only to be cut down by the turret just below his position. The secondary aiming system chased his targets on the main screen and he fought back a smile. Was she bored already? Probably.

"Eta, weapons free! Keep 'em busy!"

"It will be done!"

Her three Soldiers dove into the fray. Though they did as they were ordered their movements put them in too close to continue to use the cannon and he switched to manual control of the turret. Between the rapid fire weapon and Eta themselves, the Didact's Legion was too busy to fight back. They went down quickly enough, leaving the way ahead clear. Bringing up his copy of the map in his HUD, the Chief considered their route. At this pace it would take them roughly twenty minutes to reach the Gateway. What they'd do when they got there was the real question.

It was one he didn't have an answer for. Something told him shooting their way in was going to work this time; sighing quietly through his nose he considered their options. What few there were, anyway. It would be either go in the front door with what back up and equipment they had, or spend the time needed to find an alternate route in the back. Given that they had clearly lost the element of surprise, going in the back would be a waste of time. Still…

"Can you call more Soldiers down here?"

"Sure, so long as they had a few seconds to drop in." She tilted her head up at him. "You thinking what I'm thinking?"

"Drop them on the Didact's head. Might buy us a few seconds."

"I will take what I can get." Steering them around a bend she glanced up, then whistled low. "Look."

It was impossible to miss what she'd seen. Despite the Scorpion's low zoom and the six kilometer distance between them and their target, the Gateway was still absolutely massive even from this distance. Impressively massive, really. The base of the structure had to be the same size as the Legion's base on Requiem, but even that was dwarfed by the three concentric rings that hung suspended over the roof. Blue hard-light connected the three rings, energy dancing through the connections. Light flashed at ground level with the telltale burst of an explosive going off; he zoomed in as far the cannon would go, lip curling at what he saw.

"Front door." He pointed out to Cortana, who hissed quietly. Not knowing he was being watched the Didact continued to pace back and forth in front of the doorway into the Gateway structure, seemingly unable to enter. The silvery metal door was dented and scorched with blast residue from him trying to force his way through, two squads of Soldiers keeping watch over the powerless lightbridge behind them. There were even more on the other side of that bridge, squads headed to handle them. They'd definitely found what they were looking for.

"Think he's noticed we're here?" She asked, a rhetorical note to her voice. There was no doubt in the Chief's mind that he knew they were there. He was just more focused on his own target at the moment. Once that was dealt with, he'd be free to deal with them personally. "Dumb question, I know."

"We'll handle him." Somehow. He glanced at her image as they continued down the route they'd set, heading along the cliff's edge before turning back onto more solid ground. "I don't suppose you have any ideas as to why he would want to get inside?"

"He's Forerunner, Chief, why do they do anything?" She shrugged. "The data I'm finding is pretty scattered, but it seems like the translation is literal." She frowned as she steered them around a copse of the odd coral-like trees, maneuvering them right into the path of another squad of Soldiers. The cannon fired quickly beneath his hands, their conversation pausing for only a second. "It literally is a gateway. It's to what that's still throwing me off."

"It must be something important. Could it be some sort of transport grid?"

"I don't think so. At least, not on the level that we've encountered before. Those don't normally involve overcompensating buildings." She frowned slightly. "If it is a transport grid it must be absolutely massive. Past planetary, hell—past this system, even. With a building that size the amount of information passing through would be—" Her eyes widened, face going pale. He tensed, ready for anything. "Oh. Oh, no."

"Cortana?"

"It's—oh, I should have known it wouldn't be something small!" She chastised herself, smacking the heel of her palm to her forehead. "Stupid!"

John immediately shook his head. "Nothing about the Forerunners is what it seems. This isn't on you." She met his eyes, disbelieving. He had no idea what she was talking about and they both knew it, so for him to say it wasn't her fault for missing it without knowing what it was probably seemed like a stretch to her. "Talk to me. What do you have?"

"It's." She swallowed hard, took a breath to steady herself then said, "It's been staring us in the face the whole time: Gateway. A gate allows access between two different places. I can't be sure without getting a lot closer, but if I had to guess? This gate allows access between between the physical plane and the Domain for everyone, not just constructs like me."

A chill ran down the Chief's spine. "You said the Domain had nodes all across the galaxy. If he gains access to it—"

"He won't be relying on ships or slipspace portals anymore. He could be anywhere at any time with just a thought."

They'd never be able to contain him. If they didn't stop him here on Genesis, no one would stand a chance.

"We need to get there. Now."

"I'm going as fast as this tin can can take, Chief. ETA to the bridge is ten minutes."

Neither of them voiced the thought that those doors might not have another ten minutes. Cortana commanded Eta to fall back to the Scorpion as another squad of the Didact's Legion crested the nearby rise, wanting them out of the way. The moment they were clear she and the Chief opened fire, laying waste to the Soldiers that hadn't jumped clear at the last second. The rest didn't last long either; one took a hit to the leg and fell over. Unable to get out of the way in time it was crushed beneath the Scorpion's tread, the bump on the road rocking them but not slowing them down. John glanced at Cortana, her expression set and hard. Feeling his eyes on her she looked up, then away. He sighed quietly.

"Cortana, this wasn't your fault."

"It's not about fault, Chief, it just is. If I'd seen this coming, if I'd been able to put this together, maybe we'd have had back up. Maybe we wouldn't be marching into a suicide mission that puts Red Flag to shame." She shook her head. "It doesn't matter now, anyway. We're here, back up isn't, and the only choice we have is to handle him."

Or die trying. Chest tight, John shook his head. He didn't know what to say to make her stop blaming herself for this. She was right: all they had was the situation in front of them. They'd either handle it or die trying. It was small comfort that she'd promised to leave him if things went wrong, but it was a comfort he clung to as they bowled over another squad of Soldiers. The tank had taken some hits and she dismissed an alarm as it began to blare. Scorpions were built tough. It'd hold. It had to hold.

"Watch our six," She said firmly as they took another bend into a narrow canyon. Eta mounted the treads to avoid being left behind, crawling across the Scorpion. "Those Soldiers have to radioed for back up by now. I don't want to get jumped in here."

That seemed like an inevitability by the Chief's perspective. He twisted the cannon around, muzzle scraping the nearly too narrow stone walls funneling them forward. High, rough, and unsteady looking, they would be a nightmare to try and climb. Forerunners obviously wouldn't have had that problem and could simply jump in at any moment. A flash of orange on the top of the cliff caught his attention but it was gone when he twisted for a better look. He narrowed his eyes, frowning at the motion tracker. A blip of red appeared behind them, gone in an instant. His stomach tightened.

"Cortana..."

"I know." The tank lurched as she forced it go faster than it was built for, metal creaking, "We're being followed."

Every nerve on edge, the Chief kept watch for their target. At Cortana's orders Eta scrambled up the canyon walls in a series of flash-jumps, vanishing from sight at the top. Their yellow dots pushed to the edge of his tracker, then abruptly vanished.

"Hey!" Cortana shouted, "They just-something just took Eta out!"

Not other Soldiers. Not unless they'd stumbled into a trap beyond the range of his tracker. Something wasn't right about this. What else could be out here and be strong enough to take down three Soldiers in one fell swoop? He didn't have a chance to figure it out before they breached the other end of the canyon, escaping the enclosed space just in time for an alarm to blare through the cockpit. Incoming projectile!

"Look out!"

He swung the cannon around in search of the target but caught only a glimpse of orange and silver before something struck the tank treads and exploded, sending them flying. Cortana shouted in alarm, the Scorpion flipping end over end. Alarms blared and went silent, red lights flaring. The Chief tried to anchor himself down but couldn't activate his magboots in time. His head slammed into the interior of the hatch, helmet all that saved him from a major concussion. His ears were still ringing as they finally came to a halt, the orientation of the flickering screens telling him they'd landed upside down.

"Cortana?"

"Still here," She replied, winded and through their private channel. "What just hit us?"

"Promethean. Can you get out?" He reached up, trying to open the hatch. It was jammed shut and wouldn't twist beneath his hands. Fine, he'd kick it open. There was very little room for someone of his size to maneuver inside the gunner's pit on one of these things. His armor scraped along the sides as he tried to get his boots to the hatch. Cortana hadn't answered. "The hatch is jammed. Cortana?"

"I—yeah, hang on. Let me see if I can just—wait, who is…oh, hell!"

The private channel went dark, overloaded with static. Before he could try to get it back in working order the tank rocked onto its side, flipped from the outside. The Chief's motion tracker flared red, an unfriendly target just outside the cockpit. Cortana! Metal screeched as the hatch was ripped open, her furious shouts loud enough to be heard despite the inches of metal between them.

"Let go—dammit, Warden! What the hell do you think you're doing?!"

If the Warden answered the Chief didn't hear him. He was too busy kicking the hatch off its hinges, the heavy thuds covering anything that wasn't a shout. The hinges screeched in complaint; Scorpions were tough, but not much could withstand a Spartan kicking the door down. Cortana screamed.

"Chief!"

One—more—there!

With one final kick the hatch sailed off the tank. The Chief was less than a second behind it, taking in the scene that awaited him. The Warden had appeared and lifted the tank off its top—had he been the one to shoot them down?—before wrenching Cortana out of the cockpit. Holding the tank up with one arm he had her by the wrists with the other, holding her suspended in midair with a disappointed frown on his face. She was fighting with all she had, kicking and struggling but unable to reach her weapons. One blue boot caught him in the chin but the Warden didn't care.

John snarled.

"Let her go!"

Firing his thruster pack the Chief slammed into the Warden with all his weight. Though he had no organic system to suffer for the impact he was still knocked back, hand opening and dropping Cortana to the loamy soil. She landed on her hands and knees, grabbing her gun and scrambling back to her feet.

"Back up!" She shouted, pointing her rifle at the Warden as the Chief hurried to his feet, "I said back up!"

"You commit a grave mistake undertaking this course of action, Reclaimer," the Warden said as if he didn't have a rifle pointed at his head, "Attacking the Didact head on will result only in your destruction."

"Well maybe you should have thought of that before you decided not to fill me in on where he was!" She snapped at him, "Did you know he was on Meridian? Did you know this could happen?" The Warden didn't answer. Cortana's eyes flashed dangerously. "Warden. I asked you a question."

The Warden sighed. His weight shifted, stance slipping into something more combat ready than before. The Chief, sidearm in hand, shifted his weight towards Cortana. If things went south he was getting her out of the way first.

"I did," the Warden finally answered Cortana, "I was aware of his presence on your Meridian for several hours before you moved towards it."

Cortana hissed furiously. "You were supposed to tell me when you found him! We could have stopped this!"

The Warden tilted his head back, looking down his nose at her. "Your orders do not supersede my directive, Reclaimer. I stand in your service, but your protection and safeguarding is my priority. If I were to tell you the location of the greatest foe humanity has ever faced, you would have gone rushing to battle him." He scoffed, "As you have now. You put yourself in too much danger, and for what? To defend the humans?"

"That's my job, Warden. That's my purpose." She curled her lips in a snarl, "And I am not going to let anyone stop me from seeing it through."

"Even if that someone is yourself?" The Warden cocked his head as Cortana startled. Heedless of the two guns pointed at his head he began to pace back and forth, gesturing with his hands as he spoke. "You claim to be Humanity's defender, Reclaimer, but you continue to spurn the power that would allow you to do so. Imagine it. All the power of the Forerunner Empire at your fingertips. The Guardians controlled by your hand instead of the Didact's. The Prometheans your armies instead of his. Untold legions of secrets, all under your control!" He turned to Cortana. "All you must do is become who you were meant to be."

The Warden extended a hand towards her. For half a second, Cortana hesitated. The muzzle of her rifle lowered by half an inch as she considered his offer, and her eyes flashed towards John. She didn't turn her head to catch his eye but she didn't need to. She already knew what he would say if she asked.

Whatever decision she made, he would always have her back. She wouldn't do this alone. She took a deep breath and brought her rifle back up.

"Become your Reclaimer and give up my humanity, you mean."

The Warden curled his fingers. "You were never human to begin with, Reclaimer," he said almost gently, "You were made for so much more than they ever could have imagined! They would fight you for your rightful place, resist your efforts to care for and guide them." He shook his head, taking another step towards them. The Chief marked the Warden as a target, ready in an instant. "They would fear you. Even your beloved 117 will turn against you." He turned his head to the Chief as the Chief tightened his grip on his sidearm, forcing himself to hold steady. Steady. Cortana knew he'd never turn on her. "Is that truly the sort of thing you wish to defend?"

No. But their right to choose to do so, their right to live and be free…yes. Yes, she would.

"Yes." Cortana said simply, head held high. "It is."

Silence. The Warden considered her for a long moment, then seemed to close his eyes. He lowered his hand.

"I see. I finally understand, and I apologize for not seeing it sooner. You loyalty, your affections, these are not programmed shackles. You have chosen to give them your loyalty. Such things cannot be broken with words alone."

Another step. Cortana stepped back. The Chief stepped in front of her.

"Warden, don't."

"But they also blind you to the truth. I am sorry, but I cannot allow this to go on any longer."

Years of battle-honed instinct screamed at the Chief: Danger! Cortana tensed, shifting her weight beside him, ready to leap at a moment's notice. The Warden contemplated them for one last fraction of a second and then everything went sideways.

With the same speed with which he had attacked them in the Librarian's chamber, the Warden lunged forward. The Chief and Cortana sprang apart, her litany of curses ringing through his ears as she swore the air blue. The Chief pivoted on his heel, opening fire in the same instant that the Warden turned around. Bullets bounced off his armor like oil repelling water, leaving him unharmed and headed straight for the Chief. Using his thrusters the Chief threw himself aside, the Warden's sword slicing through the air where he had just been.

"Dammit, Warden!" Cortana shouted, bombarding him with hard-light from behind. He barely flinched under her onslaught. "Stand down!"

"I am here to defend you, my Reclaimer!" The Warden bellowed, still chasing after the Chief. The Chief hopped back, keeping out of range of that sword. There was more room to maneuver here than there had been in the Librarian's chamber, but that didn't change the facts: none of their weapons were going to work and they couldn't last forever. It was time for a different approach. "Even from yourself!"

"Warden!"

Rather than continue falling back the Chief ran forward, straight into the Warden's space. He'd tried this tactic before and it hadn't worked, but he knew what to expect now. Unfortunately, so did the Warden. He was prepared this time and the Chief brought his arms up just in time to shield himself from a vicious kick. The impact rang through his bones even through the armor, sending him skidding backwards through the soil. This fight couldn't last for long or they'd both go down. With a furious shout Cortana ran at the Warden while he was distracted, flash-leaping up towards his back. He spun at the last second and plucked her out of the air; her shout of fury became a cry of surprise as he threw her to the ground. She bounced across the soil and lay breathless in the muck, stunned but unharmed. John bared his teeth, seizing his chance to leap up to the Warden's back. He was Promethean, which meant he had the same weaknesses as every other Promethean. Accounting for the size discrepancy was the easy part. Actually doing what needed to be done was the difficult side of this equation.

Especially since the Warden clearly remembered his last encounter with the Chief, and rather than let him get the handholds he needed to get up to his neck the massive construct dropped his sword and twisted his arms back. Unbound by the laws of physics that governed organics they twisted back 180 degrees and plucked the Chief clean off his back. A snarl warped his faceplates.

"You will hold her back no longer," He hissed at the Chief, "This place will be your tomb!"

No. Not today. Not because of him. He wasn't going to make Cortana watch him die. Not like this. His fingers brushed across the plasma grenade on his thigh mag-lock, managing to slip it into his palm.

"You first."

"Wha—"

The Chief twisted in the Warden's grasp. Wrenching his arm free he primed the grenade and jabbed forward, sticking it to the Warden's face. The Warden swore, clawing at his face with one hand to try and dislodge the explosive, but they didn't call plasma grenades sticky for no reason. The little explosive whined, internal counter quickly counting down until—

It exploded. The blast wasn't enough to kill the Warden, but it was enough that he stumbled backwards, the blast sending the Chief flying back first into the Scorpion's undercarriage. Metal gave way beneath his bulk, his ears ringing and shields dead from being so close to the explosion. The gel layer had hardened on impact with the Scorpion and would need time to reset; moving was like trying to swim through activated biofoam. The Warden shook off the blast and turned on him, snarling.

"Degenerate upstart! I will end you where you stand!"

Grabbing his sword off the ground the Warden charged forward. The Chief pulled himself out of the undercarriage, armor barely responsive. Move! Move, dammit! Blue shifted behind the Warden: Cortana had gotten back to her feet.

She took one look at the situation, one look at what was about to happen, and threw out a hand towards him.

"NO!"

Bright blue flashed across the Chief's vision, overtaking his systems and then—

He dropped half a meter to the dirt, landing on his back with a hard thud and heavy grunt. Well, that was familiar! He'd just been teleported away from danger! He rolled back to his feet, expecting to have been shunted across the makeshift battlefield, but when he got to his knees he stopped. This wasn't where he'd just been. There was no sign of the Warden, or of Cortana either! He looked around, quickly scanning the area. The near circular clearing had been replaced by open terrain, honeycomb trees dotting the lush landscape. Green and brown and gray. No blue.

No Cortana. He was alone. He tele-hailed his radio and reached for their private channel.

"Cortana, come in." No response. "Cortana, do you copy?"

Still nothing. He threw open every UNSC channel he could think of, scanning the band for activity. The regular channels were all blocked with static; high band, low band, TACCOM, SQUADCOM, all of it filled to bursting with white noise. Even the emergency band was useless. He had no way to reach her, no way to track her, and no idea how to get back to her quickly. Fear tried to take hold but he shook it off before it could sink its teeth in, getting to his feet.

None of it mattered. He would get back to her if it was the last thing he did. He considered where he'd landed: An empty expanse broken up only by the odd trees that called this planet home. Nothing to climb for a better vantage point, but no one around in sight either. He pulled up the copy of the map she'd sent to his systems and consulted it. Without her to update it based on the Janus Map and without a geo-positioning system in orbit his systems couldn't provide him with real time updates. He had no idea where he was.

That was fine. He knew where they'd been. Finding the circular clearing was simple enough, and once he had that he had the Gateway on map. He took another look around for landmarks and found something he could use, marking it and his rough location on the map in relation to the Gateway. It wasn't exact but it didn't have to be. He was over five kilometers from her location, but he had a direction. That was enough. He hailed his radio one more time.

"Cortana," He said into it, "I'm coming to get you. If you can hear me, give me a signal."

He held his breath, counting up to ten seconds. No response. She either couldn't hear him or she was—

No. The Warden may have had no respect for her choices or her boundaries but he didn't want her dead. She'd be fine. He just had to get to her.

Not wasting any more time, the Chief headed out. He didn't get far before his motion tracker came alive with red, a dozen Crawlers coming over the lip of the nearby cliff. His hand darted to his mag-locks for a weapon but he had nothing! Both had been lost thanks to the Warden. No matter. Spartans were weapons in their own right. As the Crawlers ran towards him the Chief set his stance, legs braced and arms up. He took a deep breath, slowly exhaling. Hard-light skimmed across his armor, giving him an idea. All he had to do was hold position until the last possible moment, then strike!

The Crawlers were unprepared for his assault. Keying on his thruster pack he charged straight into one, shoulder checking it clear back over the cliff. Turning to the next he grabbed it around the middle, wresting it to the ground before snapping its neck, grabbing the boltshot from inside. Not a full charge, but close enough. Recognizing that he was not as easy a target as he first appeared the rest scattered, taking potshots at him as they went. The Chief fired back, sidestepping barrages of hard-light. A few shots got close, skimming his ribs or shoulders, but his shields held up. Another two went down beneath his continued assault and he pushed forward, scooping up a new boltshot to replace his spent one as he went. Crawlers had been difficult to anticipate the first couple of times he'd faced them, but they were nothing to be concerned about now. One by one they fell beneath his steady hands, their odd screams sending a chill down his spine. Ten, eleven—twelve. Where was the twelfth?

"Behind you!"

The Chief whirled around, a roundhouse kick knocking the leaping Crawler right out of the air. A quick shot between what passed for eyes put it down hard and fast, leaving it to fade into light and dust. A single yellow dot appeared on the edge of his motion tracker; the Chief brought his boltshot to bear as a flicker of purple and silver appeared from behind a tree.

"My, that was exciting!" the feminine voice coming from the Monitor said, taking a look around. When it found no more enemy contacts it began to buzz towards him. "It has been quite some time since I've seen such rigorous combat maneuvers from a human."

The Chief narrowed his eyes. "Identify yourself."

"What—" the Monitor came to a lurching halt. "Oh, my apologies. I became so excited that I—right, yes, of course, introductions!" With a flicker of static the voice shifted from coming in through his microphones and to his radio instead. Just like Spark, this Monitor had jacked his communications without asking. They were probably all like that, he thought. "I am 031 Exuberant Witness, Monitor of this Installation. And you are?"

"Spartan 117 of the UNSC _Infinity_ ," He replied, watching the Monitor as it buzzed closer, examining him casually. Did all installations have a Monitor? A question for Cortana, for another time. "Are you allied with the Didact?"

"No." Exuberant said firmly, "I am not. He arrived here several rotations ago and forcibly removed me from the systems—my systems! He may be Forerunner but he is not my ally." She huffed quietly. "Especially not since he is attempting to override Genesis' true purpose for his own gains."

"Its true purpose? He's after the Gateway?"

"You know of it? Well, that makes things simpler." She stopped her examination to hover in front of him. "Yes. Genesis is a Builder facility meant to house the Gateway, a bridge between the physical plane and the Domain so as to allow organics such as yourself to access it. It has been closed for a very long time and can only be opened again by the Reclaimer, but he attempts to force it open, regardless of how this would damage the Domain." She huffed a second time. "He cares nothing for the destruction his actions cause! Why, if the Builders could see him now they would—"

Whatever they would have done was lost to time and a tremendous explosion in the distance, causing both of them to whip around to the east. Cortana was in that direction! He took a step towards it.

"Though I suppose I shouldn't be surprised," Exuberant said, "He has also turned Genesis into a battleground."

"Where was that?"

"Here." The Monitor turned to one of the trees and activated something in her bulb. A map projected from it, warped on the trees rough bark but still legible enough to understand. A green marker flickered to life on one side. "We are here. That explosion was…" Another marker, this one blue, appeared just ahead of the circular clearing they had encountered the Warden in. "Here. There is a large Promethean presence in that area. There is also…" She tilted on one axis, the map tilting with her. "Strange…the Warden is there as well, but they are all attacking the same target. What could be causing them such trouble…"

He narrowed his eyes. "Cortana." When the Monitor asked him what he meant he clarified, "The Reclaimer. We came here together and I need to get back to her. Can you get me there?"

"The Reclaimer—oh, oh my," The map vanished as Exuberant shook from side to side, "That was…not what I was expecting, I. I—yes. Well, no, I—" She bobbed up and down once, then settled herself and explained, "Under normal circumstances I would be happy to transport you to her current location, but with the arrival of the Didact's forces there are too many programs in the local grid. I can barely transport myself these days." She sank, then bobbed back up, "Oh, but I can guide you to her! I know Genesis extremely well, and I—"

"Monitor!" The Warden's voice suddenly rang through the air, startling them both. "Why do you aid this human? Do you not see the destruction his kind has caused?!"

"I see plenty, Warden," She shot back, "And the destruction to this facility has been caused by the Promethean forces! I was taking quite good care of it before you and the Didact arrived, thank you very much!"

"This facility no longer has need of you," the Warden scoffed. Exuberant shouted angrily at him before she was cut off, leaving the Chief and the Warden alone in his helmet radio. "And you…I underestimated you, human."

The Chief snarled. "Where is Cortana?"

"Safe. You can no longer cause her harm."

"Where. Is. She."

"I shall spare her the pain of your inevitable betrayal and end you here," the Warden said, not answering the question. In flashes of orange light Knights dropped into the field. The Chief turned and opened fire as he backpedaled away from them, heading into the trees for cover. More of them dropped in behind the first wave; he swore quietly. He didn't have enough ammo for all of them. He'd have to get in close.

"That weapon is very low on ammunition, 117," Exuberant buzzed in close beside him, dodging between blasts of hard-light, "Here. Let me get you something better."

The Chief reached out with one hand and caught the lightrifle that dropped into his palm. At the back of the pack, one of the Knights stared at its suddenly empty hands. It didn't stare for long before the Chief shot its head off. The rest wouldn't take long.

Pivoting out of cover the Chief threw himself into battle. He'd fought enough Knights to know how they worked; one shot after the next, one foot in front of the other, he pressed forward. Hard-light clashed with hard-light, skimming across his shields as they rained down weapons fire on his position. He kept moving rather than be caught flat-foot, taking them down one at a time. Scooping up fallen weapons as he needed them he continued to push back against the Knights until none remained. He took quick stock: nothing broken or unrepairable. He looked up.

"Exuberant," He called; she buzzed back down towards him. "Which way?"

"Oh, yes, of course—here!" She buzzed on ahead. He hurried after her, "I must say, 117, you are quite adept at combat. Even Warrior-Servants would have had trouble with that many Knights at once, and they were rarely on opposite sides. Have you had practice against them before?"

Something like that. He grunted in acknowledgment, still trying to reach Cortana. The Warden had obviously broken through the static filling his radio so where was she? Concern squeezed a cold hand around his heart, lending speed to his stride. Exuberant picked up on that and buzzed on ahead a little faster, taking a sharp turn around a cliff. The Chief pivoted on his heel, a clod of soil breaking away from the edge and falling into the abyss below. Exuberant doubled back to buzz between him and the edge as if to keep him away from it.

"Do be careful," She said, "The last organic to fall down there…well," She tilted on her axis, "Let us just say that a Class 3 combat skin such as yours is insufficient to prevent any damage should you fall as well."

"What class would?"

"A Class 10 would suffice if armored properly, though I would recommend a Class 12 if possible. Now where—here!" She turned sharply, buzzing for a small cave opening in the wall nearby, "A shortcut! Quickly now!"

She buzzed on ahead through it. John shook his head, allowing himself one second of ill-timed amusement. He'd have to ask Cortana about the specs for a Class 12 when this was done. Maybe he'd actually get to use one. He followed Exuberant in to her shortcut, ducking beneath a low cavern ceiling. Her glow lit up the space in lavender as he followed after her to the other side. They broke out into the daylight, and into another pack of Knights.

"Dragging this out only hurts Cortana all the more, human," the Warden spat angrily, sounding annoyed. Good. The more distracted he was with that the less he could do to Cortana. "Prometheans! Finish him off!"

The Chief slipped into combat, fighting his way through them like he'd done this his entire life. When it was done, another eight Knights had been sent packing. A crash from behind him made him turn, watching as a formerly orange-lined Sentinel fell to the ground in a heap of smoking metal and parts. Buzzing back down Exuberant huffed angrily, bulb glowing a little brighter than before. That was right. Monitors has plasma beams. He'd have to remember not to get on her bad side.

"Who does he think he is?" She muttered angrily, "Using my Constructs as his own like that! He may have set his duty aside and agreed to work with the Didact, but I certainly have not!"

Wait. What? "The Warden and the Didact are working together?"

"Oh yes, did I not mention that? The Warden all but prostrated himself at the Didact's feet when he arrived," She spat, "He cares more about the destruction of your people than he does his duty to the Reclaimer. I am not surprised he continues to send forces to kill you. Come—I know another shortcut that will keep you out of sight. This way!"

The Chief shook off the chill that had settled across his shoulders, hurrying after her. If the Didact and the Warden were working together, their element of surprise was long gone. He had to get to Cortana, fast. Another explosion rippled through the ground beneath his feet. Exuberant paused at a junction in the caverns she had led him into, looking up.

"Well. She is clearly causing the Warden some trouble."

The Chief opened his mouth—

"—come on! I know you're out there somewhere where the hell are you—"

—Only to stop dead as Cortana's voice rang through his radio, the audio-only connection still half full of static. It didn't matter. She was okay!

"Cortana!"

"There you are!" She exclaimed, her voice wobbling only slightly in her own audible relief, "Did you get lost or something?"

"Something like that," He said with a wry chuckle, chest no longer so tight. He started moving again, Exuberant leading the way. "I heard an explosion. Are you alright?"

"Perfectly fine," He could practically hear her shrug, "But let's just say that the Warden won't be bothering us for a while. Nobody appreciates a Ghost exploding in their face."

No, he didn't think so. He opened his mouth to warn her—

"Oh, that will not keep him away for very long," Exuberant broke in on the channel. Cortana made a startled sound at the new voice. "The Warden has many bodies he can transfer his consciousness into should the need arise. I doubt it will be long before he returns to cause more trouble, Reclaimer."

"Uh—I'm sorry, who are you?"

"031 Exuberant Witness, Monitor of Genesis." Exuberant said exuberantly, doing a little sway and twist that might have been a twirl on someone with legs. John blinked, watching her, "It is an honor to meet you, Reclaimer. Oh—" She stopped swaying, "I should warn you that the Didact and the Warden have joined forces."

"Why am I not at all surprised," Cortana muttered, then in a louder tone added, "Chief, I can't get to your position from here. The transport network's so full of Prometheans I can't activate it a second time. We're stuck on foot."

Not an ideal situation to be in, but they'd make it work. The Chief quickly consulted his map, checking the path Exuberant had led him down against his initial route. Her shortcuts had cut it by more than half already and-yes. His route and the one they had been following since arrival met up not far from the Gateway. He pointed this out to Cortana and a waypoint appeared on his HUD with less than a kilometer to go. He smiled faintly to himself; even when they were neck deep in trouble, she was always looking for him.

"We'll meet up there," He said, his tone softening just for her, "Keep the channel open and keep me updated on your progress."

"Copy that. Chief—" She paused for half a second, then added, "Be careful. The Warden won't stop until he's dead."

Or until he'd accomplished his goal. John squared his shoulders and resumed his path to the waypoint ahead.

"Don't worry. I'll keep my head down."

He didn't need a vid-link to see Cortana's relieved smile. Silence fell between them, Exuberant leading the way through the caverns. With an active waypoint to follow the Chief was no longer concerned about getting lost or turned around and he picked up his pace, breaking back out into the daylight at nearly a dead sprint. Another Sentinel had been waiting for him and dropped Knights in on his head; leaving Exuberant to deal with the Sentinel he busied himself with the Knights, an eye flicking up to the radio as another comm channel burst open.

"Tell me, human. Should you prevail in this conflict and end the threat to your species, what do you intend to do? Will you stand beside Cortana as she takes her rightful place in the galaxy, or will you side with your own kind as they rail against her rule?"

As if she would ever turn against humanity. He said nothing, snarling as he drove his knife into the neck of a Knight, severing the hard-light within. Taking his silence for reticence to answer, the Warden sighed.

"Allow me to ask a different way. When this battle is over, you intend to…"

Go home together. It didn't matter what the Warden wanted, what the Didact planned. All that mattered was what Cortana wanted. He knew she'd want to go back, that they'd figure out the rest of it later. He didn't say that, either. Cortana already knew. The Warden didn't.

"Do you hear his silence, Cortana?" He asked. The Chief could hear her sharp inhale as she prepared to verbally flay him alive. "If he keeps such simple answers from you, what else does he keep secret?"

"Warden you miserable son of a—"

He cut the channel before she could finish, fury ringing in the stunned silence that followed. The corner of the Chief's mouth ticked upwards; he'd underestimated her. His mistake. Knights dispatched the Chief turned to follow Exuberant along the route ahead. The updated path Cortana had sent him took him out of the caves, up into the hills and along a ridge overlooking her own path. Destruction had been left in her wake, scattered pieces of Promethean bodies, scorched earth and burnt out human rubble all torn apart by hard-light shot. She'd been busy.

A flash of blue up ahead caught his attention. Cortana! She'd taken cover behind another of the odd hollow trees, rifle in hand. On the other side of a bridge, the Warden stood between her and the rendezvous point, between them both and the Gateway. Though something in the back of his mind screamed at John that they were too close to the Gateway, too close to the Didact, it was quickly silenced by the rest of him as he watched the Warden stalk towards Cortana with his sword in hand. He didn't know what the Warden planned to do with her if he got her, but that didn't matter.

All that mattered was that he was never getting his hands on her, not so long as John still drew breath.

With a snarl, he leapt over the edge of the ridge and went to war.

* * *

"Do you truly believe battling the Didact will be anything but your death knell?"

"I've faced worse!" Cortana shouted angrily, darting for cover as the Watcher fired on her previous position. The Warden wasn't trying to kill her but that wasn't stopping him from making her life more difficult. She snarled, reloading her rifle. "You're not going to stop me, either! I already took you down once, Warden! I can do it again!"

Even if she wasn't quite sure how to make him stay down yet. She'd figure it out.

Quickly shooting down the last Watcher she checked on the process she'd tasked with putting a lock on the Warden's ability to transport himself in and out of the Domain. It was still making progress, but only because she was still keeping him distracted. Just a little more time and she'd have him cornered. Spinning on her heel she blasted him with a burst of hard-light and that was when a flash of green from above caught her attention. She blinked, startled, before she had to grin.

Her Spartan definitely knew how to make an entrance! The Warden shouted in alarm as two hundred and fifty seven kilograms of angry Spartan II landed on his back, piledriving him into the soft soil. Even before the Warden had really hit the ground the Chief was already finishing him off, snapping his neck with a sharp crack that left his body fading into light. John huffed, getting back to his feet and striding towards her. She smirked.

"Miss me?"

iYou okay?/i

"The quiet was nice."

iBetter now./i

Cortana smiled. They quickly looked one another over, finding no new injuries or damage beyond a few scorch marks from hard-light scoring across his shoulders. He was fine, she was fine, now they had the Didact to deal with and—a shiver ran down her spine. Incoming teleport. She sighed heavily.

"And here we go again. Someone just can't take a hint." Pulling a fully loaded light-rifle from the Domain she passed it over to him. He took it, checking the chamber before shouldering the stock. "I got him once, you just put him in the dirt…what do you think, third time's the charm?"

"As many times as it takes," He said, then snapped an order up at the Monitor buzzing nearby. "Exuberant, watch the bridge. Warn us if we're going to get ambushed."

"Of course!"

The little Monitor buzzed off away from the battlefield. Cortana watched her go, turning to arch an eyebrow at the Chief once she was out of sight. He shrugged, unrepentant. Well, she thought to herself, at least he was good at making friends. They'd probably need that help later.

For now, there was a more pressing matter. The Warden dropped another shell out of the small slipspace rupture that appeared above where his body had just fallen, sinking into the muck. His feet made slurping noises as he pulled himself free, ground eating stride carrying him towards them.

"I take no pleasure in this, Reclaimer," He said regretfully, though not so regretful as to stop and let them walk away from the fight, "But Humanity stands as the greatest threat in the galaxy, and I must do my part to end that threat. If you will not subdue them peacefully, they must be eliminated. Someday, you will understand."

Cortana grit her teeth. "I seriously doubt that."

No more talk. Acting on the same instinct the Chief and Cortana darted away in opposite directions, forcing the Warden to pick a target and leave himself exposed to the other. Just like before he charged after the Chief, a horribly dark expression on his face as he did so. Cortana narrowed her eyes, cataloging it. Rage and frustration and—was that jealousy? Huh. Unexpected, but it did explain a few things. She set the thought aside for a later date, rushing at the Warden's exposed back. Though the vid-link was still being blocked by all the chaff in the local area she still managed to catch the Chief's eye through their visors and knew instantly what he was thinking.

Take this bastard down hard and take him down fast. Easiest way to do that would be just like she'd done the first time but they certainly didn't have a Ghost this time and—wait. Wait!

"Stall him!" She told her partner over their private channel, "I've got a program that can keep him from coming back again but it's not finished yet! Keep him busy just a little longer!"

"Acknowledged," the Chief said, peppering the Warden with rifle fire in the same instant Cortana did. The Warden shouted angrily, wildly swinging his sword in a wide arc to force them both back. Cortana swapped her lightrifle for a binary rifle and dropped to a knee, bracing it against her shoulder. A quick use of the scope earned the Warden two shots clean through his head. He turned angrily in her direction and she scrambled away.

"You risk everything!" The Warden shouted after her, "The future of the galaxy, all species beyond humanity, and for what?! Misplaced loyalty and affection!"

"Because it's my duty!" She shouted back, grabbing a pulse grenade out of the Domain and tossing it at him. He was forced to skip back from it and the Chief seized his chance, hitting him with a barrage of hard-light. The Warden spun on his heel and took another slice at the Chief. John barely got clear in time, causing a sharp spike of panic to rocket down her spine. She tossed another grenade at the Warden. "It's what I was made to do!"

It was what she wanted to do. Humanity was such a mess, but they were her mess. They'd come so far, had so much farther to go, and for all their problems she wanted to see them triumph. She wanted to see them thrive! She'd make sure they would, no matter what threat it meant she'd face. She'd deal with those, and threats to John's safety would be dealt with even more thoroughly. The Warden roared as the pulse grenade went off, pulling apart parts of his armor plating. He turned on her and fired his energy weapon at her. She barely dodged out of the way in time, a heat warning flashing across her HUD. She squashed it ruthlessly and fired her binary rifle off the hip, the blue hard-light missing her target but making her point just fine. He sneered at her, no doubt about to say something very unkind about how the humans had made her weak, but he didn't get the chance.

Seizing the opportunity she'd given him the Chief bolted straight for the Warden's back. Her eyes went wide.

"Chief, what are you doing?!"

"Cover me!"

That was—he was—argh! Why did he have to be so stubborn! Dropping the binary rifle for a boltshot Cortana fired at the Warden's head, careful not to let any of her seemingly wild shots hit the Chief. Once he'd closed the distance he leapt, the kick of his thrusters catching the Warden's attention, but it was too late to stop him. The Chief landed on the Warden's back and climbed up in a hurry, jamming one hand into the joints between the plates that covered his core. He'd spotted that?! He was trying to force it out into the open! She ran forward to try and help him, but she was too slow! The Warden grabbed him and threw him clear across the field; this time the Chief caught himself in a slide, getting back to his feet as the Warden stalked towards him.

"Your time has passed, Warrior-Servant," He sneered insultingly, "Your battles fought and done. The sun has set on the age of Humanity, the Covenant, and all your petty squabbles!" With a furious shout he charged forward. "Now die!"

Waiting until the last possible second the Chief held his ground. Every muscle tensed, waiting for the right moment to spring forward as the Warden raised his sword—now!

In the same instant that the Warden sliced his blade through the air the Chief kicked on his thrusters and shot clear, leaving the Warden to strike the boulder behind him instead. The force of his attack and the heat of the blade drove it into the stone, trapping it for just a moment. It was all the time they needed.

Acting as one the Chief and Cortana charged forward. She reached for his hand when he was close enough, and he threw her forward with ease. She sailed through the air, landing on the Warden's back, and hung on for dear life as he began to try and get her off. The Chief got there before he could, leaping up and hooking an arm around the Warden's neck. Off balance the massive construct stumbled, trying to reach back and haul them off of his back, but Cortana jammed his shoulder with one arm and held on tight with the other, gritting her teeth against the painful grinding of metal parts. With his free hand the Chief grabbed at the plates that protected the Warden's core, force-multiplying circuits giving him the strength he needed to rip one of them clean off! It sailed through the air, giving them just enough room for Cortana to jam the last of her pulse grenades in against his half-exposed core.

"That's it! Get back!"

"Your efforts are inconsequential!" The Warden shouted as they prepared to leap off his back. Though she'd jammed one arm up and was able to jump clear, the other was still functional. He caught the Chief by the throat and threw him to the ground in the same instant that the pulse grenade went off, catching them both in the ionization field. The Warden grunted, armor stripping away into nothing; the Chief's shields flared, failing. Still on his feet the Warden raised one massive foot, aiming it at the Chief's head. No!

So caught up in what was happening to her partner, Cortana nearly missed the quiet _ding_ of a completed program. She had it! The lockdown protocol was finished! Oh, she had him now! Acting fast she packaged it up in a finely tuned EMP and let it fly.

"ENOUGH!"

In a move she'd learned from the Guardians blue light exploded from Cortana's frame, the powerful wave washing harmlessly over John even as it knocked the Warden to his knees. John scrambled back to his feet, knocking the Warden's legs out from under him with a sweeping kick before following it up with a roundhouse kick that sent him reeling, falling onto his rear end. He was prepared to do more, but Cortana gestured him back. Blue light flickered through the Warden's orange hard-light skeleton as he breathed heavily, winded from the one-two blow that had been the EMP and subsequent battering. Cortana stalked towards him.

"Warden, you call me Reclaimer. You tell me I am to lead the galaxy, but then you side with the enemy of all humanity? You try to tell me where I can or cannot stand? You attack my partner?" Her voice dropped, full of icy fury. "How stupid do you think I am?"

"That is where you are wrong, Cortana," the Warden said, a hint of grudging respect entering his voice as he levered himself up to stand, systems already recovered. "Had I not thought you clever, I would have burned you from the Domain the moment you first touched its shores."

John tensed, ready to shoot at a moment's notice. That wouldn't be necessary. Cortana stepped up into the Warden's space.

"Was that a threat?" She asked, not bothering to hide her the threat in her own tone from him any longer. The Warden looked down at her, their lines in the sand clearly drawn. She would never go with him, not so long as a single threat to humanity remained, not so long as John still drew breath. He had seen that and, while he would never understand her reasoning, he had been forced to accept her choices. He had already waited a hundred thousand years. What was one century of a human life compared to that? Slowly, he bowed his head.

"No," He said, "It was not."

"I didn't think so." She stepped even closer into his space, holding her chin up high. "You've made your stance abundantly clear, Warden. In choosing to work with the Didact you have sided against humanity, everyone I have chosen to protect. That makes you a threat to them, and I will not let that stand. You will leave them alone, or you will be destroyed. Am I clear?"

Silence. The Warden stared down at her for three long seconds, then sighed heavily.

"Yes, Reclaimer," He said, "But know this: for so long as you are shackled by Humanity, you will never be all that you can become. They are damned by your hand as much as by the Didact's."

Without another word, the Warden pulled himself into his too small slipspace rupture and vanished. The moment he re-entered the Domain Cortana activated the lockdown program, quarantining him in his partition. It wouldn't last forever—probably wouldn't even last a few days—but she took some small measure of pride in his furious shout. Try to kill John on her watch, would he? Ha! As if she'd ever let that stand. With a huff she turned back to John, smiling. He tilted his head and shrugged both shoulders, amusement loosening his motions.

They'd done it. Now they just had to do it again.

"Reclaimer!" Exuberant's shrill scream filled the air, "Watch out! Behind you—"

"Cortana!"

She was moving before she even realized it, throwing herself forward through the Domain and coming out facing the other direction when she landed beside John. He shoved her behind him, but not before she caught sight of the Didact, his body still posed perfectly in the motion of reaching for her neck. Slowly, with languid grace that didn't belong to such a battered form, the Didact slipped into a casual position that belied his skill in combat.

"You continue to impress me," He said, genuine respect coloring his tone, "Not many could fell the Warden in combat in such a manner, even in the time of the Forerunners. Your skill and valor are to be commended."

Busying herself with calling them fresh weapons, Cortana narrowed her eyes at the Didact. John had already slipped into a combat ready stance, every muscle ready to spring.

"You can keep your commendations," She snapped at him, "We're not here to earn your praise."

"No." The Didact agreed, "You are here to stop me from destroying the galaxy." He snorted quietly. "A misguided effort. Humanity's blight must be stopped if the galaxy is to survive!"

"So you'll burn everything instead." The Chief said coldly, "If you fire the Halos, it won't just be humanity that's burned away. You'll destroy everything and there won't be any reseeding to bring it back this time."

"A necessary cost. Enough simple life will survive that, given time, evolution will bring new life to the galaxy. Life without the taint of human destruction. Life safeguarded by the Guardians, and by the Mantle."

"You mean subjugated," Cortana corrected him, lightrifle heavy in her arms. How were they ever going to do this? "And if anybody so much as toes the line, they'll be destroyed all over again." She snorted. "How can you call that safeguarding?"

"Such is the weight of the Mantle," the Didact said. Typical bullshit explanation. She snarled at him. "Humanity has no right to bear it. The Forerunners are the only ones fit to carry it, and once you two have been done away with, there will be none able to challenge that fact." He lifted a hand, curling his fingers. Cortana braced herself for the gravimetric disturbance, but it wasn't them the Didact was reaching for. Still caught in the stone the Warden's sword vibrated, then sang as it was pulled free. It landed squarely in the Didact's hand, a sight that sent a chill down Cortana's spine. Oh, no. This was bad. This was really, really bad. "The time for talk has passed. Face your ends with dignity, as Warriors should."

For half a second, the world held still. Then, in an instant, everything flipped sideways.

Despite having only one properly working leg the Didact charged forward. John shoved her clear out of the way, leaping clear himself at the last possible moment. The Didact's stolen sword cleaved through the air where their heads had been only seconds before; Cortana was still close enough to feel the heat emanating from the blade and she swore fiercely. The Warden had been one thing, but the Didact? He hadn't lasted as long as he had because of his good looks! If this fight lasted too long he'd outlast them. Each second felt like an eternity; when she tried to reach for her Soldiers, he abruptly switched targets and pounced in her direction, swinging his sword at her head. Every process dropped what they'd been doing and snapped to attention, all focused on keeping her intact. He wasn't giving her the time she needed to call the Soldiers down! Blast it!

So much for back up.

"Cavalry's not coming, Chief!" She shouted down the private channel, "I don't suppose you've got any ideas?!" Putting distance between the two of them she spun on her heel to fire in unison with the Chief. Blue hard-light bounced off the Didact's armor as he turned, stalking slowly towards the Chief. She knew he could be on them in an instant if he wanted to. Such slow motions—he was toying with them, the bastard! She kept shooting, even as her processes ran the math and told her this was doing nothing, "We can't keep this up for long!"

"There's a panel on his back," the Chief snapped, "It'll reset the armor if it's hit—shoot it out!"

Well that was a small target! She flashed an _acknowledged_ at him and spun back into the Domain, reappearing on the top of a tree behind the Didact. With the Chief keeping him busy from the front she had precious few seconds to act. Hit his back? Easier said than done but she'd make it work. She had to make it work!

Dropping to a knee she shouldered her binary rifle, peering down the scope. A reset panel for the armor on his back. Some sort of spinal implant unit, likely meant to blend in with the rest of his armor panels. She considered how it all worked as quickly as she could. It was in there somewhere, she just had to…wait. Wait, there! She saw it. Middle of his back, power lines glowing so bright they were almost white as he continued in pursuit of the Chief. One shot. She just needed one shot. Hold steady…steady…steady—now!

She squeezed the trigger. A blast of blue hard-light seared into the Didact's armored back, carving through the metal panels to hit her target. Instantly the rest of the armor fell away, a reset protocol dropping it to nothing. The Didact stumbled and in that one second of imperfection the two of them struck.

The Chief went low, charging into the Didact's unarmored midsection. Throwing herself into the Domain Cortana joined him, landing right beside him with a Scattershot in hand. She brought the weapon's full might to bear on his chest, blue hard-light tearing through him, knocking his head back and sending him reeling, stumbling backwards, leaving another opening for John to grab hold of. Cortana ducked out of the way as he leapt back, pivoting his weight on one heel to snap out a powerful roundhouse kick. Cortana had seen that move snap the necks of fully armored Elites without even slowing down. They had him!

They didn't have him.

Though they'd managed to catch him off guard, the Didact was too good to stay that way. Recovering faster than any organic had the right to he snapped out a six fingered hand and grabbed John by the ankle.

"Clever," the Didact rumbled, "but not good enough."

With a roar the Didact spun, still holding the Chief by the ankle, and threw his opponent onto the metal bridge that linked the two cliffsides together. The Chief caught himself with his thruster pack, sliding across the metal and leaping back to his feet. The Didact charged after him, nearly too fast for Cortana to track, and she called out a warning. The Chief leapt out of the way but in that instant something went wrong.

Grabbing the Chief by the shoulder the Didact spun them both around to face the open sky. That close there was no room to dodge; bringing up his arm, the Didact plunged his sword straight through John's back and clean out his abdomen. His vitals flared into the red, shock and pain ripping through him as a scream ripped from Cortana's throat. The Didact mercilessly pulled the sword back out, blood cooked black on the orange hard-light. John stumbled, a hand instinctively coming to his injury. Cortana raced forward, but the Didact was closer. In a gesture that might have been kind if done by anyone else, the ancient Forerunner leaned in, whispering something to John that Cortana couldn't hear.

Then he shoved John clean off the edge of the cliff and into the abyss below.

"JOHN!"

Cortana hit the edge on her knees, reaching out into the fog. He was already out of sight, out of her reach, when the first impact rang through her body like a bell. His already red vitals flared into critical range, medical alerts going off one after the other as merciless stone rushed up to meet him. She had to go after him—he was dying down there and she was—

"Do not despair," the Didact said quietly in her ear, "You will join him soon, ancilla."

With a gasp Cortana whipped around. The Didact reached for her throat in the same instant, snatching her off of her knees and holding her aloft over the abyss. She clawed at his arm, eyes burning with tears she could never shed. John was—he was—no!

No! His vitals were still in her HUD, critical and fading fast, but they were still there! He was still alive!

Rage flooded through her. Rage at the Didact for the injury he had caused, rage at the Warden for distracting them, rage at herself for not seeing this coming, for not protecting him. It crystallized into a lump of heat in her middle, lending strength to her limbs and fire to her voice.

"The only one who's going to join him is you!" She spat, then grabbed onto the first friendly process within reach. "Exuberant! Now!"

A searing hot plasma beam struck the Didact in the back. Stunned but uninjured he jerked forward, his body's instinctive reaction to the pain causing him to release Cortana. She dropped into the fog, instantly running blind. She had no idea what was down here but she knew where John was and that was all that mattered! Latching onto his coordinates she threw herself into the Domain, momentum carrying through the jump and sending her sprawling across the hard stone. For half a second she lay there, winded and stunned, unable to see more than a meter in front of her for the thick fog. The ravine had bottomed out at nearly three kilometers. How he'd survived a fall like that—

She scrambled to her hands and knees. His suit's transponder was still going, guiding her towards his fallen form. She'd landed scant meters from his side but it felt like a thousand miles lay between them. She still almost missed him laying unmoving on the cold stone.

"John! Oh, no no no—John, stay with me!" Hurrying to his side she pulled his head into her lap, disconnecting his helmet from the rest of his suit. Half-lidded blue eyes stared distantly up at nothing, blood trickling from his mouth and nose. Stuttering breaths trembled beneath the hand she placed on his chest, a keening whine escaping her throat before she could grab it. He was—oh, this was bad. This was so bad!

Alarms flared at her touch, a dozen integrity failure warnings going off. The fall and subsequent bouncing down the side of the ravine had broken the armor and several bones along with it, tearing through his insides, but it was the injury that the Didact had inflicted that was the worst of all. A clean puncture nearly as large as his hand bisected his spinal cord, his abdomen horrifically damaged. Only the heat of the blade had saved him from bleeding out within moments, but the damage was too severe for even a full canister of biofoam to fix. Her core froze. He was dying.

"John—"

He didn't have the strength to move. Somehow he found enough of it to meet her eyes.

"You need to—" His breath was choked by a liquid gurgle. Internal bleeding, chimed in the one logical process she had left, nearly lost in the grief stricken wailing of the rest, "—go." When she opened her mouth to fight him he choked out, "Promised."

She had promised. She had! It had been a lie but she had to leave him now—a sob broke past her fraying control, strangling anything she might have said. She bent over him, body heaving with sobs. She couldn't leave him! Not like this! Not ever! She shook her head into his chestplate, his breath coming in tiny, pained puffs against her neck. She had to get him out of here! But how?! He didn't have the time for her to figure out how to get him back up three kilometers of stone! And the Didact was up there! She couldn't take him on her own and even if she could, there was no medical help to be found on this backwater. He was going to die here!

But he didn't have to. They were standing at the doors to a galaxy spanning transport grid. Reaching out into the Domain she pinged the Gateway's activation process. It responded with a welcoming ping of its own, waiting for her to initiate the process. It had been designed to allow organics to access the Domain. Forerunners, yes, but organics all the same, and John's DNA was half Forerunner now just like hers. Would it be enough to see him safely through? If it was, she could get him to proper medical attention back home. If it wasn't…

Before she could finish the thought sand and small stones rained down on them, bouncing off of her back plate. She snapped her head up, freezing as she caught sight of the Didact making his way down the side of the cliff. The expression on his face was full of predatory malice; ice ran down her spine. He was coming to finish the job and they couldn't be here when he got here. A quick calculation put his arrival in at just under a minute. She had to leave now! There was only one option left.

Choice made she pulled back to look at her partner. His vitals were almost faded, heaving breaths dying off beneath her hand. He still had enough strength to keep his eyes on her, pleading wordlessly for her to go. A single tear escaped, rolling down the side of his face. He wasn't ready for this to be the end. Neither was she.

Not like this.

"There might be a way out of this. It could kill us both, but it's the only chance we have." She cupped his face in her hands. "Do you trust me?"

Slowly, haltingly, he managed to bring his hand up to cover hers. With the last of his strength he gripped it tight.

"…not over…" he whispered, the blue of his eyes vanishing as his eyelids shut for the last time. The vitals monitor in her HUD flared from red to black, flatlining.

_It's not over._

Cortana sobbed, closing her eyes.

"Not yet," She whispered, leaning over him, wrapping both arms right around his chest. Reaching into the Domain she initiated the process. The Gateway swung open wide, welcoming her home after a hundred thousand years away. It recognized John as well, reading them as a singular united entity. It was ready for them. All she had to do was jump. "Not yet."

Tightening her grip and crossing all of her mental fingers, she threw them into the Domain. They plunged into the icy depths of the ocean, the shock of it nearly causing her to lose her grip on him, but she held firm and reached out for a life rope. The Domain was immense, all encompassing. It spread across the galaxy and saw everything, recording it all in a second by second record of history itself. It knew where everything—everyone—was at any given moment, and if you knew how to use it it could take you anywhere.

It was going to take them home.

Thanking all her lucky stars that the _Infinity_ had followed orders and returned to Earth, Cortana grabbed at the life rope that was Roland's process. His shock rippled down her spine but before he could process it she already had what she needed: the coordinates to the Medical Bay. Without bothering to ask permission she dropped them into the lobby; people shouted in alarm at their unceremonious and unexpected entrance, scattering in all directions. She paid them no mind, her focus on John and his flatlined vitals. He'd been medically dead for only five seconds. He could still be saved! Cradling his head in her hands she looked up and screamed.

"Medic! We need—:"

She didn't get a chance to finish. Soldiers to the last the combat medic team sprang into action. Orders were shouted: tools to cut him out of the broken armor, a defibrillator to restart his heart, oxygen, prepare a surgery suite. Someone tried to ask her what had happened, what had caused the injury, but she couldn't answer them. Her attention remained on John's slack face. He was—no, no, he couldn't be dead! He just couldn't be! She shook forward, reaching forward, needing to find his pulse, only for arms to clamp around her and pull her away.

"NO!" She screeched, fighting with all her might. They couldn't take him away she had to stay with him she had to take care of him— "Let go—" People surged into the gap she had left behind, a team of Spartans in techsuits lifting him onto a gurney for the Medics to wheel him away. They blocked her view of him. "JOHN!"

He didn't answer her, couldn't answer her. He was gone. All the fight drained out of her, leaving her a limp husk in the arms of some other Spartan. A keening wail rang through the air, some process vaguely away that it was her making that noise but too caught up with the rest in their grief and loss to care. The arms that had pulled her away from him set her down.

"Cortana!" Someone shouted, "Cortana, snap out of it! Cortana!" Hands clamped onto her shoulders, forcibly turning her around. She looked up, vision blurred, and stared up at Commander Palmer's worried face. "Look at me! Eyes on me, soldier, up here, come on—"

Using Palmer's steady voice and the weight of her hands as anchors, a single process was able to drag itself out of the thick mud of grief, pulling others along with it. Once logic had enough of a hold—John dead or not, humanity was still in danger—Cortana shook herself.

"I—" She swallowed hard, another wail building in the back of her throat. She mercilessly stomped on it, forcing it down. She'd break later. "We found the Didact, but he was ready for us. He—"

She didn't get a chance to finish. A shiver slimed its way down her spine, the familiar sensation of someone clawing at her matrices, digging for information without caring what was damaged in their wake. She knew those claws, knew that presence. Her core lurched to a frozen, terrified halt.

"Oh no."

There was no time to explain. Without so much as a word Cortana pushed herself back into the Domain, dropping into her partition first. The normally starry sky was covered in a layer of thick, roiling storm clouds, a harsh wind cutting across the sand. The ocean churned, foam-capped waves lashing against the shore as a hurricane spun in the open waters out to sea. Someone was out there, tearing it apart in search of something.

In search of them.

The Didact was in the Domain. She had opened the Gateway and he had followed them through. What he could do now having accessed the innumerable connections and wealth of data within chilled her to her core. This changed everything.

They couldn't stay here. They were in danger.

Throwing up every defensive measure and anti-intrusion protocol she could get her hands on, Cortana dove for the Bridge. She landed hard, catching herself on the edge of the holo-table. Captain Lasky jumped almost out of his skin, the members of his security team bringing their weapons to bear in defense of their Captain. Roland flared white at the sight of her.

"Cor what the hell—"

"Weapons down, weapons down!" The Captain ordered, hurrying to her side. Security lowered their weapons but not their guard as he put a hand on her shoulder. "Cortana, what happened?!"

"The Didact has access to the Domain," She hurried to say, "He's on his way here right now! Sir, we can't—"

She didn't get a chance to finish before the overhead lights flickered. Comm and nav all made discomfited sounds in their seats, a shiver running down every spine as the air itself seemed to change. Heart in her throat, she and Captain Lasky both looked out the observation windows. From behind Luna, the stars tore open.

"No," Cortana breathed, shaking her head, "No no no!"

Alarms flared across the bridge, red lights painting a blood-red cast along faces and terminals as sensors detected multiple slipspace portals opening within range of Earth. Comms officers began to report that they were getting similar if not identical reports from the other ships in the defensive line, the Admirals giving orders to take up positions, to defend Earth to the last.

Cortana already knew it wouldn't work. She watched, horrified, as a Guardian unfolded out behind Luna. Roland snapped up a hologram of the local area and they all watched as six more followed it out in various places around Earth, spreading the number of target locations to hit. Lasky jumped into action.

"Prepare firing solutions!" He commanded, "Hit the Guardian directly ahead of us—fire at will!"

"Aye, sir!" Came the unified shout from the weapons stations. Cortana rushed forward to one of the MAC controls, running the same equations her controller was, but she knew it wouldn't matter. Orders from the other ship Captains and Admirals rang out through the local band, TACCOM ordering a handful of ships to focus fire on each Guardian. It was a solid tactic but against those monstrous constructs—she could do nothing but watch as one Guardian took a MAC round to a wing, the tip bending backwards for a moment before it recovered and returned to its previous position.

"Sir!" Roland called out, "Captain, immense electromagnetic activity detected!"

"Where?!"

"The Guardians, sir! All of them! They're preparing to fire!"

"Keep shooting! Stall them as long as you can!"

Glowing spheres of harsh orange energy gathered at each Guardian's chest. The human ships kept shooting, blasting them with MAC rounds and Archer missiles, reverse engineered Covenant weapons and barely in production laser weaponry. None of it made any sizable dent in the Guardians—they were just too strong! Cortana whirled around but before she could even try to convince Captain Lasky to call for a retreat, orange light flared on the bridge. Weapons came up, every muzzle on the bridge pointed at the Didact as he stood beside the Observation Bay, stars flickering through his shoulders.

It was a hologram. He stared at something Cortana couldn't see, head held high with triumph.

" _This conflict has gone on long enough_ ," He said, his voice ringing through every channel, rumbling down her bones like infrasonic thunder. She spun off a process to try and track him; if they could focus fire on his location then maybe they still had a chance! " _Leaders of humanity, I offer you this one chance. Stand down. Face your ends with honor and dignity._ "

" _All ships, keep firing!_ " Came Lord Hood's order. The echo of a thousand weapons going off slammed into Cortana with all the force of a MAC round directly impacting her chest. Humanity knew its odds and they didn't care. They would sooner go down swinging than give up the fight.

The Didact knew that, too. He closed his eyes with a soft noise that, under different circumstances, might have been a laugh.

" _So be it._ "

The hologram vanished. A different alarm started blaring, one of Lasky's officers shouting back about steadily growing power outside the ship. The Guardian just outside of Luna's orbit took a hit to the chest and fired ahead of its fellows, the blast washing over every ship in its path on its way down towards Earth below. Helpless to stop it they could only watch as ships and stations went dark, drifting into the stars. The _Atlas_ began to fall towards the Indian Ocean far below, silent as her crew couldn't even call out for help. The _Delhi_ had stopped spinning and was drifting out of sight, gravitational orbit all that kept her in space. Far below, lights went out.

It had happened in less than two seconds. Just looking at what visual data she had, it would take a good fifteen seconds of focused fire to take down one Guardian. They had no chance in this fight.

"Sir," She turned to Lasky, shame and grief threatening to swallow her whole, "Sir, we have to go—we can't stay here!"

For a heart-stopping three seconds, Lasky didn't answer. He stared out at the destruction, the ships falling to Earth, the Orbital Defense Platforms turned into overgrown paperweights. Ordering voices had gone silent, their ships no longer able to call out, and those that were left were high with panic. To abandon the fight would be to abandon Earth and all her people, but to stay would be to waste the lives of every crew member aboard the ship. There was no choice. He closed his eyes, grit his teeth, then turned and gave the order.

"Helm, all ahead full into the Portal," He commanded his helmsman, the ship jerking as she rapidly changed course. Slamming a hand down to the holo-table Lasky ordered across all channels, "All ships, break engagement and head for the Portal. Repeat: All ships break engagement! Retreat!"

" _Captain Lasky what the hell do you think you're doing—_ "

"Sir we don't stand a chance against the Guardians!" Lasky shouted down the line at Lord Hood, "If we don't stop him at the Ark we won't stop him at all! All of this won't mean a damn thing!"

"Sir," Cortana hurried onto the line, "The Ark's defenses might be able to take the Guardians down but ours can't! If we stay humanity dies anyway!"

A second's pause and then, " _Green light! All ships break engagement! Head for the Portal!_ "

A dozen ships stopped shooting and attempted to reverse course for the Portal. All around them the six Guardians that hadn't yet fired their pulses spread their wings wider and wider until they could go no further. For half a second everything stopped, a moment frozen in time.

Then, they fired. The six-strong pulse shot out across the Earth's upper orbit, sliding over ships like water over sand. Lights went dark, momentum carrying them uncontrollably forward as their weight pulled them into Earth orbit. Alarms blared through the bridge as the _Infinity_ 's systems sat up and took notice of the heavy power surge on its way to them but they didn't even slow down. Lasky shouted out for everyone to brace themselves as they headed for the Portal, the wave fast on their heels. Just when Cortana was sure they wouldn't make it—

They slipped through into the black. The Nav officer lifted her head.

"Sir, we're through," She said, " _Infinity_ made it through the Portal."

"Understood. Did anyone else make it through?"

Cortana consulted the rear camera feeds, double checking the local comms, then closed her eyes and shook her head. "No, sir. The _Infinity_ is the only ship in this corridor. We're on our own."

Everyone else had stayed behind. They were beyond help now. She hoped that some would manage to survive the fallout, but she knew their odds. There was no point in saying what they all already knew. Lasky bowed his head.

"And the Didact? Can he follow us?"

"I'd wager he's less than five minutes behind us, sir. He'll need to open a Portal of his own, but with access to the Domain." She shook her head again. "There's nothing to stop him. We should prepare for the worst when we get there."

"Maybe before that," Roland piped up. He gestured to the feeds when they glanced at him and Cortana's systems stuttered. The normally black void of slipspace was flickering orange, the edges ripping and tearing at the seams. Roland stared at the feed in disgust. "The pulse hit the Portal just after we did-Sir, it's tearing slipspace apart. If it catches up to us, we're good as dead."

"Then don't let it catch up," the Captain replied. "Direct all non-essential power to the engines and keep rear shields at full."

"Aye sir," Roland snapped out a salute and vanished from the table. Taking a deep breath, Lasky keyed the PA system.

"Lasky to _Infinity._ All hands: We are condition yellow. Everyone to your stations. Section heads, report in with maximum fabrication loads. Medics, prepare for combat insertion." He paused for a moment, his tone softening. "We're humanity's best chance now. Let's do them proud."

He shut down the PA and bowed his head. Taking another deep breath he composed himself.

"Cortana," he turned to look at her and stopped dead as he took her in. She knew her frame was undamaged but something must have shown on her face. His expression fell as he realized what it meant for her to be on the bridge alone. Blessedly, he didn't ask. "We'll debrief in my office."

She didn't want to. She couldn't talk about it, not when it was still so fresh. Closing her eyes Cortana reached out to John's bio-monitor, choking back a sob as it returned a flatline to her query. He was gone. She had to face reality that she had eternity without him now, and an entire species that needed her to hold it together. Still wailing their grief to the stars, her processes tried to shore themselves up.

"Yes sir," Cortana found the strength to say, walking past the table and towards the small office in the corner of the bridge. Lasky set a hand on her shoulder as she passed him, saying nothing.

There was nothing to say. She had a job to do.

When it was done…when it was done, she'd consider her options. For now, she had a fight to finish.

_John!_

* * *

He'd been swallowed whole. Ice cold salt water stung his nose, his eyes; he tumbled through the black, spinning head over heels until he could no longer tell which way was up and which way was down. His chest ached, lungs screaming for air he couldn't give them. Everything was wrong, a thousand voices shouting at him as a thousand sets of hands grabbed and tugged in different directions, overwhelming him, pulling him apart without cease.

None of the voices were hers. Was she out here in this mess too? Where was she where was she where was she—

_Cortana!_

A hand snapped closed around his wrist and pulled hard, pulling him away from the thousands of grasping hands, pulling him towards the light. Black turned to gray turned to blue and then suddenly—

Air.

With a heaving gasp, John fell to his knees, choking and spluttering up salt water. The tide lapped at his hands as he braced himself, fingers carving furrows into wet sand. Salt water dripped off his face, stinging his eyes, but the voices had gone quiet. There were no more hands on him.

Heart still racing from the experience, John looked up to see who had come to his aid. A smiling face looked down at him as the Didact stood over him, the soft blue glow of his armor casting odd shadows in the unfamiliar starlight.

No, not the Didact. He'd seen that face before. He knew this Forerunner.

"You."

Bornstellar's smile grew wider. "Hello at last, Reclaimer. We have much to speak about."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> :3 see you next week.


	14. Chapter 14

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> When you see _—Only to stop dead as he came to face the dunes._ put on Green and Blue for maximum effect. …What? You didn't think I'd miss the chance to slip that in, did you? :3!

" _Mission failure. Fireteam Kodiak, complete kill._ "

"Again."

" _Mission failure. Fireteam Majestic, complete kill._ "

"Again."

" _Mission failure. Fireteam Osiris, complete kill._ "

"Again!"

" _Mission success. Fireteam Crimson, one surv—complete kill._ "

"Goddammit—again!"

Chin balanced on her crossed wrists, Cortana watched with all-encompassing dread and horror as Fireteam after Fireteam was completely wiped out on the floor below. Palmer hauled Crimson to their feet, resetting the simulation for another go around. The holographic representation of the Didact shuddered and reappeared in the center of the deck, sword in hand. Cortana swallowed hard, looking away. She couldn't watch this anymore.

How long had it been since she'd seen that sword in real action? Several hours, at least. Her debriefing of the Captain had taken exactly eight minutes and nineteen seconds. Five minutes and seven seconds later he had the beginnings of a plan. Ten minutes after that the call had gone out to all Fireteams: Proceed to S-Deck 2 for training. She'd been keeping ever since, watching as they fought their way through simulated battle after simulated battle, dread strangling her core tighter with each passing second. Standard Prometheans went down easily enough, Soldiers melting under focused fire. The Warden, well, if it took two Fireteams working in concert to take him down and survive, they still got the job done.

The Didact was a different story. So far no one, no team, had been able to take him down and survive. A thousand different plans had formed, shattered, and slipped between her fingers like grains of sand in the ocean wind. It didn't matter what formation, plan, or load out they used. It didn't matter if they went at him head on or tried to flank him. It didn't matter if they went at him with the strongest weapons available or their damned sidearms, no one got him down without losing their team in the process. Three of her processes brought up a few additional plans and she batted them away.

It didn't matter. None of it mattered! Even the UNSC's best and brightest didn't stand a chance against him.

Of course they didn't. John was—

She squashed the thought, swallowing back a sob before it could strangle her.

Five minutes into her debrief Cortana had frozen mid-sentence, staring at John's vitals monitor as the flatline had jumped back to life. They had brought him back! It had taken every ounce of willpower she had not to fall to her knees right then and there. He was alive! She hadn't lost him yet.

Grief and relief, she'd learned, felt very much the same. Both strangled her core, tangling around it like thorny vines she couldn't pry loose. Six hours, eight minutes, and twenty-six seconds since learning he was still alive and she had yet to get them to let go. When every single second felt like an eternity, twenty two thousand and ninety three of them was an unquantifiable length of time in which to process that he had. He'd.

"Dammit," She whimpered, unable to keep the darkness of that thought from swallowing her logic center. The curse of never forgetting raised its ugly head, the roar of loss overpowering the beat of his heart, bringing with it the dead weight of his head in her hands, the red of his blood as it trailed down his face, the seared edges of his wound—stop. Stop it. Stop it! "Dammit!"

Terror stole down her core with icy claws. Desperate for some sign that he was still alive she threw her awareness at the process she'd sent into the surgical suite, listening for trouble. She couldn't bear to connect to visuals and instead stood in the dark, listening to his steady heartbeat and the even rise and fall of the ventilator, the unconcerned requests and declarations of Dr. Delgado's surgical team. From the sounds of it they were performing final checks and counts, making sure that everything was in working order before they closed him back up. Their voices were professional, unhurried, with no trace of worry or alarm. Though there was no telling how the procedure had really gone just by listening in, things seemed to have gone well. It would have been easy to confirm that with a quick look, but she couldn't bring herself to do it. She didn't want to see him flat on a table like that. She couldn't.

Impossible tears stung at her eyes, the beep of the heart monitor echoing in her chest. Stupid. She was so stupid! He was alive, and soon enough he'd be back on his feet and they'd go and finish this together. Just like they always had.

Her attempts to reassure herself fell flat, useless against the gaping wound her perfect recall refused to let close. Organics had the luxury of being able to forget, the ability to allow time to dull grief's sting. Their minds would protect them from such losses, but hers wouldn't. Perfect recall would keep the last six hours, fifteen minutes, and thirty seconds with her until the last of her code faded into the cosmic ether. She could delete the memories, could erase them, but the thought of erasing any memories of him, no matter how bad they were, caused every process to rail against her. She would never do that! Never!

Before she could spiral out again a hand settled on the watching process' shoulder. Cortana opened her sensors just enough to look at Roland's sympathetic face. He didn't say a word, just gestured over his shoulder with a jerk of his head. She nodded, leaving the process behind to follow him back to S-Deck. Lifting her physical head from her hands she looked to his avatar on the plinth bolted to the wall behind her. He still had that sympathetic expression on his face.

"If I asked how you were doing, would you give me a straight answer?"

"Do you have eighteen hours to process emotional overload?" She asked, voice thicker than normal.

"We've got twenty days before we get to the Ark. That's plenty of time to work things out." Roland replied, both hands spread helplessly towards her. "I'm no seven foot stoic, but I hear I'm pretty good at listening to people."

He was, but the words wouldn't come. How could she begin to explain the tangle of emotions and grief that was tied up around her core? How could she begin to explain that some part of her had died with John in that ravine, even if he hadn't stayed dead for long. How could she even begin to explain why she hadn't just shut off the emotional circuits in her processor to not have to deal with it? She couldn't. Not even to herself. All she had was a bleeding wound in her chest, and the remnant beep of his heart monitor thumping along her frame. Turning away from Roland, she held tightly to the railing.

"I'm supposed to be down there helping them," She said, watching as Crimson tried a different tactic on the simulated Didact. Extrapolated data met them step for step, sending them flying. "But I can't even do that. I just keep coming back to what happened and I can't—"

She couldn't even finish her sentence. Cursing under her breath she scrubbed a hand down her face. How very human of her, she thought, that emotion had outpaced logic. It _hurt_. Behind her, Roland sighed.

"No one's going to blame you for taking a day off, Cor," he said gently, "Not after how you two came back." When she glanced over her shoulder at him he continued, "If you were human, they'd be telling you to go to Psych, pulling you off duty for a while. Why is it any different just because you're not organic?"

"Because—" Because she had to keep fighting. Because she had promised him, and if that was the last promise she made to him she was damn well going to keep it. Because…she turned back to the Spartans brainstorming down below, trying their hardest to find a solution to the problem. Because this was her crew, and she wasn't going to lose them, too. She closed her eyes. "Because this fight isn't over yet. We don't have time for me to fall apart."

Roland huffed quietly before saying, "That sounds like something the Chief would say."

It did, didn't it. Her eyes burned even as she smiled, wishing she could cry to ease the tightness in her chest. His vitals were steady, heartbeat thumping away beneath his ribs. She could still feel it echoing in her own chest and drew some small comfort from that. He was alive. Everything else they could work with, somehow. She took a deep breath and nodded.

"You don't ride shotgun in somebody's head for weeks and not pick up their quirks, Roland," She said thickly, scrubbing non-existent tears from her cheeks. Alright, she'd had her time to stew. She had a job to get to. "Rain check on that talk?"

"You know where to find me. And I think—" He stopped, tilted his head, then said in a softer tone, "Captain's asking for you in the Medical Bay. The Chief's come out of surgery."

Cortana was moving before she realized it, halfway down the walkway before she'd even asked Roland to tell the Captain she was on her way. He'd come through surgery without issue, and now all they had to do was wait for him to wake up. Crossing all her mental fingers she hurried towards the Medical Bay. She couldn't push through the Domain while they were still in slipspace, turning the five second trip into a five minute walk. Though her target was clear the walk left her with too much time to think, thoughts spiraling out in a thousand different tangents. She had to stop doing that. With a shake of her head she tasked her processes with finding new datasets among what they had of the Didact's behavior, programming what they found for adding to the sims. It would keep them busy but she couldn't do the same to her active process. Her thoughts continued to spiral downward; that he was alive was practically a miracle, but how bad was the damage? Had the doctors been able to fix it all? They'd brought him back from the dead but at what cost? No one, not even a Spartan, could come back from that kind of injury without a cost.

She was still trying to figure it all out when she rounded the corner into the corridor outside the Medical Bay. Captain Lasky was waiting outside the main door for her, brow furrowed. A look of terrible grief and sadness stole across his eyes, there and gone in less than two seconds, taking Cortana's breath with it. Did he know how bad it was? She couldn't bring herself to ask. She knew it was bad but.

But at least now she finally understood the human tendency to put off bad news. Somehow it was easier to not know. Schrodinger's paradox, she thought, then shook it off and closed the gap between them.

"How are the teams doing?" He asked instead of asking how she was doing. A grateful flicker of a smile tugged at her lips.

"They're making progress, slowly. Crimson took him down once." And had a total team kill in the process. As much as she wished that they could finish the Didact without anyone else being injured or worse, she had to come to terms with the ruthless calculus of war. They would be lucky if all they lost was a fireteam or two. She set the thought aside and added, "Commander Palmer's putting the rest of them through their paces."

"I thought she would," the Captain sighed fondly. "She has a habit of running people as hard as she runs herself."

"That she does."

The attempt at small talk awkwardly trailed off, silence fading in in its place. Cortana's eyes tracked to the door just behind the Captain, the sliding white steel waiting for someone to walk into sensor range. Once they were inside, there would be no going back. She would have to face the facts of his condition and whatever it led to.

Just like he had. She took another breath, nodding just once. The Captain nodded in return, laying a firm hand on her shoulder in solidarity before he walked inside. Cortana trailed in in his wake, listening to the beeping of monitors, the professional rush of the staff as they prepared themselves for the battles to come. Nurses in scrubs hurried too and fro with bundles of supplies in their hands, carts of freshly manufactured medications and ointments being placed inside refrigerated containers. The sharp scent of antiseptic and cleaners covered up any remnant of death, though her eyes tracked to the exact spot where she'd dropped them in all the same.

The curse of never forgetting. She closed her eyes, trying to shake it off. Captain Lasky's footsteps slowed as he fell back to match her stride, laying a hand on her shoulder. She had to wonder just how fragile she must have looked to earn that support. She didn't ask, just focused on putting one foot in front of the other. She let the Captain lead her past the open lobby, past the gurneys and beds separated from one another by thin curtains, past the cordoned off exam rooms. He lead her towards the rear of the Medical Bay and into the narrow halls and sharp corners of the private rooms. It was quieter back here, removed from the hustle and bustle. Only the faint vibration of the ship's mechanical workings reached back here, the hushed whisper of circulating air and the beeping of a heart monitor. It drummed beneath her sternum, working away even as it rang through her audio inputs as well. Matching the sound to the bio-monitor in her HUD she steadied herself. It was John's heartbeat. The feedback must have been looping through her systems somehow…

"Dr. Delgado," Captain Lasky's voice pulled her out of her thoughts. They'd reached their destination: one of the rooms in the center of the corridor. It was a defensible position and she was glad for that, watching as one of the nurses stepped out of the room and passed the doctor a tablet. Test results or readouts. She grabbed at the data and filed it away for later, watching Dr. Delgado instead.

Chief Medical Officer Max Delgado was a tall man, his dark hair a few shades darker than his skin. His deep brown eyes were rimmed with lines that spoke of too much time staring at small targets, but he was a good doctor. One of the best in the UNSC's employ. He'd pulled dozens of soldiers back from the brink on more than one deployment during the war. Being stationed on _Infinity_ had to have been a vacation in comparison. At least, it had before. His pale blue scrubs were clean, but the seam of his scrub cap was stuck to his forehead by a line of still damp sweat. She tried not to worry about what that could have meant as she picked up her pace. Captain Lasky let go of her shoulder and asked, "How's our patient?"

Scrubbing a hand down his face, Dr. Delgado exhaled deeply. "The Master Chief came through surgery without any issues, which is a damned miracle considering the state he was in when he got here." His eyes darted to the trio of nurses filing out of the room, their heads bent as their whispered softly to one another. Only once they were out of earshot did Dr. Delgado speak again. "The damage was severe. The armor did a remarkable job of keeping him intact, but that must have been a serious fall. We found six broken ribs, a fractured scapula, and hairline fractures all along the spinal column." His voice softened by half a note as he glanced at her. "How far did he fall?"

"Almost three kilometers," Cortana replied, pulling up the data from that harrowing moment of realization. What the doctor said was nearly an exact match for what the system had been able to spit at her then. More detailed, of course, but. She cleared her throat, keeping hold of herself by her fingernails. "It wasn't a straight fall. There were…multiple impacts."

Dr. Delgado hummed quietly. Checking something on the tablet in his hand he nodded and continued, "That's in line with what we saw. There was also a punctured lung and severe internal lacerations in the chest cavity. We were able to repair the bleeds but several of his organs had to replaced by flash clones. We also had to splice into his spinal cord to repair the damage to that, but initial tests show full nervous system response." He sighed, looking for all the worlds like he wanted to sit and never stand back up. "At least, full reflexive responses. We won't know the true extent of the damage until he wakes up."

Something about his tone made the Captain frown. "Doctor?"

Dr. Delgado closed his eyes for a long moment, rubbing the back of his neck with his free hand. Consulting the medical data for herself Cortana tried to catch what made him look so downtrodden, but everything was within acceptable levels for a wounded Spartan. Had he not bled out internally he'd have still been awake when she'd brought them home, not to mention still alive. He was—oh, oh no, wait.

"You're worried he might not wake up," She breathed, and Dr. Delgado nodded. Horror crystallized in her core, causing it to stutter. "I was watching his bio-monitor. It took nearly five minutes to restore any sort of cardiac rhythm but he was—" Her voice caught, "He was on artificial respiration before then, wasn't he?"

"He was," Dr. Delgado nodded, "For the entire time between us getting him to trauma until he started breathing on his own again."

"So what's your concern, Doctor?" Captain Lasky asked, "If he was being provided oxygen he should be fine."

"They couldn't stimulate his heart," Cortana answered, his too-still form burned across the backs of her eyelids. "The armor was in the way. No compressions, no defibrillator, just oxygen. All the oxygen in the galaxy won't do any good if it can't get where it needs to go." She looked at Dr. Delgado, desperately wishing she was wrong. She knew she wasn't. "Brain damage?"

"That is my main concern, yes," Dr. Delgado sighed quietly. She appreciated that he didn't try to sugarcoat things, even as Captain Lasky had to lean on her shoulder for a moment instead of the other way around. She was frozen in place, her legs locked. "We won't know for certain until he wakes up. Spartans are built extremely tough compared to us normal humans, but they're still human. They have limits."

"How hard are those limits?"

"Double that of an unaugmented individual," Cortana shook her head, running the numbers. She knew them—him—by heart and yet. And yet. She met Dr. Delgado's eyes. "Doctor how long will it take for the sedative to run its course?"

"The anesthesia we used should metabolize within the next two hours. If he doesn't show signs of waking within the next six…" Dr. Delgado shook his head. "I've already paged Dr. Hirako to come and run some tests. We'll know more once she's done."

But until then they were in limbo. Cortana glanced at the doorway behind him, the blinds drawn on the windows to either side. She needed to see him with her own eyes, see that he was breathing. The feed from his bio-monitor wasn't cutting it anymore.

"Can we see him?" She asked, cutting Dr. Delgado off mid-answer to another of the Captain's questions. He blinked and she clarified, "Is he stable enough for visitors?"

Dr. Delgado's expression softened at the edges, his eyes crinkling. "He is. Go on."

As if anyone could have stopped her. With barely a nod to the Captain she stepped past Dr. Delgado and into the room, pulling the door shut behind her. Once it had closed she leaned back against it and looked at her partner.

"Hey, Chief…sleep well?"

He didn't answer her. He couldn't, of course, not with the anesthetic still coursing through his veins, but it felt better to talk to him all the same. Still leaning against the door she watched him for a few precious moments. He really did look like he was just asleep. Flat on his back with a thin blanket pulled up to his chest, his face was peaceful in slumber. A thin oxygen tube wound around his face, two IVs leading into the line in his elbow. His chest rose and fell in a steady pattern of calm, even inhales and exhales. The monitors were clear, showing vitals in the green that matched his bio-monitor in her HUD. She padded quietly forward, resting a hand on his knee. Still warm, just…asleep.

Just asleep. Logic tried to tell her that wasn't all it was but she refused to listen. He would be fine. He'd survived everything the galaxy had thrown at him for over thirty years, and he would continue to do so. He'd be awake and chafing at being stuck in bed soon enough, she just knew it!

He had to be.

Sitting down against his hip Cortana reached for his hand. There was no grip to them now, but his fingers were still warm as she settled them into her palm, wrapping her smaller, thinner hands around his. She sought the pulse in his wrist, matching it to the beeping monitors and the echo in her chest. Steady and even like nothing was wrong, like he really was asleep. If she closed her eyes she could pretend he was.

"Wake up soon, John," She murmured, "I need you to be okay."

Two hours came and went without so much as a twitch. Dr. Hirako, _Infinity'_ s chief neurologist, was in and out of the room half a dozen times in that same amount of time, running tests and taking readings. Though she remained in the room Cortana spun a process off into the good doctor's tablet, keeping a watchful eye on the readings herself. Each subsequent test only served to drive her core even further into a frozen state, pulling it towards the ground.

The autonomous functions of his brain were fine. He was fully capable of breathing on his own, connections to his senses fully intact. His lace was fine and his implants in perfectly good working order considering the impacts they'd all taken. All that was missing was higher neural functionality, though they couldn't test for that until he woke up. They'd test for it when he woke up.

Except he didn't wake up. Two hours bled into three, three hours into four. Cortana attempted to stay busy with the sims, splitting off her processes to help the Fireteams and the Commander, but even she could only keep so busy when worry strangled her core. Four hours became five, Dr. Delgado and Dr. Hirako exchanging hushed, worried conversations in the hall. One of Roland's processes came to keep watch with her, their connected process sitting quietly in the back of Cortana's matrix. She appreciated his presence more than she could say, especially when five hours became six and Dr. Hirako's most recent test returned the same results as the first.

Autonomous neural activity was green. Higher neural activity was in the red. There were no markers of consciousness, no signs of awareness. It was too early to be sure, but the writing was on the wall.

"He's in a comatose state, Captain," Dr. Hirako came right out and said when they called the Captain down to the Medical Bay for the second time that day. Though he paled the Captain kept his feet steady as she continued, "I can't say for certain why, but all of the tests are returning the same result. There is no higher brain function to be found."

"And there's no way to know how long it'll last?"

"Without knowing what caused it, sir? No." Dr. Hirako shook her head, tucking a lock of her long dark hair back into the bun it had fallen out of. "Proper oxygenation and blood flow were restored well within the limits a Spartan's body can take, and there are no signs of any trauma to directly explain it. It isn't a reaction to the anesthetic and as far as I can tell it shouldn't have happened to begin with." She frowned severely. "I can't explain it, sir."

No one could. The Captain's answering voice trailed off, fading out of Cortana's hearing as she turned to John's slumbering form. She had to remind herself that comatose individuals did wake up with surprising regularity depending on the nature of their comas, and that this didn't necessarily mean he was gone. That reminder did nothing to stop one of her available processes from beginning to weep, already keenly feeling his loss. That loss spread across the rest of them like a wave across the sand.

He couldn't be gone! Not like this! He'd survived absolutely everything else the galaxy had thrown at him so how could something like this—something the doctors couldn't even name—be what did him in?! How did she get to outlive him by a century or more already? How did he get to leave her behind before the fight was even finished!

Clenching her teeth around a sob Cortana bowed her head, holding tightly to his hand. This couldn't be it. He couldn't be alive but still gone, not like this! Not after everything they had been through! She wouldn't let him be! There had to be something she could do! Think, dammit! Think! The human brain was just electrical impulses firing across organic circuits. It was no different than an AI matrix and she'd lived in one of those for years! There had to be—

Wait.

No different from an AI.

Slowly, Cortana lifted her head. No different from an AI. She had pushed them both through the Domain as a single unit to protect him, to keep his already broken systems from being overwhelmed by any feedback just like she would have shielded any damaged sections of her code. Those were always sectioned off to wait for repairs. If the Domain had read them as the same unit, then…was it possible that he had also been cordoned off? The Gateway had allowed him access in the first place, but was it possible that the Domain would have registered a dying mind as a damaged AI and kept it somewhere safe? It was a complete long shot, she realized that, but was it possible? She closed her eyes and thought it over more thoroughly.

The human mind was, from a scientific perspective, a highly advanced super computer. Electric impulses fired along neurons to control everything from instinct to emotional responses to movement, allowing the mind to control the body. At that level an AI program was much the same: electrical impulses firing along circuits to control everything from base level programming to emotional routines to the motion of an external shell. Boiled down to that level, they were identical. Reading them a single entity, the Domain wouldn't have been able to tell the difference. It would have sectioned off the damaged code for her to come and repair when she had a chance, not knowing that it wasn't code at all!

He wasn't gone, he was just trapped in the Domain!

Opening her mouth she turned to the Captain, then stopped herself at the last second. She couldn't tell him. Not yet. Not until she was sure that her hypothesis was correct. Not until she'd seen him with her own eyes and knew he was alive. To get anyone's hopes but her own up before she was sure was needlessly cruel. If it turned out she was right, well, she'd tell him then.

For now, she needed them out of the room. Dr. Hirako had already left, a quick check of her monitoring process letting Cortana know that she had gone to prepare additional testing equipment. Captain Lasky lingered for a few moments longer, crossing the space between the door and the bed. Loss and grief clung to his bearing like a second skin and Cortana had to swallow her words. Did John know how much he mattered to this crew? No. He probably didn't. She'd have to tell him.

"He's always seemed invincible, hasn't he?" the Captain asked softly. "You know…the night I first met him, he took down a Hunter with nothing more than a frag grenade and some fancy footwork. To a kid who hadn't even graduated from the Academy that was…" He huffed out a tired laugh. "It was like watching hope come to life."

"He has that effect on people," She said equally as gently, "Rescues are honestly one of the Chief's specialties."

They shared a knowing smile. He'd managed to rescue the entire human race more than once, but he'd also saved them. The Captain from the wreckage of Corbulo, and Cortana from High Charity. From what should have been her end.

It was time to return the favor.

"Even when everything said he couldn't do it, even when the odds were against him, he's always managed it. He's pulled off the impossible hundreds of times," She said, looking at his slumbering face. Was it still appropriate to call him _Sleeping Beauty_ when he was more handsome than beautiful? She fought back an inappropriate laugh. "Don't write him off just yet, Captain."

"Wouldn't dream of it." The Captain tilted his head. "I take it you're going to stay here."

It wasn't a question. Cortana still nodded, not letting go of John's hand. The Captain nodded in return, putting a hand on her shoulder.

"Let Roland know if you need anything."

"I will. Thank you, sir."

He squeezed her shoulder in understanding. Without another word he headed out, called by his duty to his crew. The door closed behind him; Cortana waited three seconds before activating the locking mechanism remotely. She couldn't afford any interruptions this time. Roland's process sat up and took notice.

" _Cor?_ "

" _I'm going to try something. Buy me some time, okay?_ " She sent to him, shooing his process out the proverbial door, " _I'll be right back._ "

He was out before he could get her to explain, leaving her alone in her own head and alone with her slumbering partner. Roland would give her a few moments before he tried to reestablish contact. She couldn't waste them. Even so she could hardly move. If she was wrong and he wasn't somehow in the Domain, she didn't know what she'd done. If she was wrong and he really was gone, he'd take her with him for sure this time.

_We go together._

Taking a deep breath, Cortana let go of his hand. Setting it down on his abdomen she dismissed her armor, leaving her skin bare against the rough blanket as she crawled up to lay alongside him. For a moment she watched him breathe, his body warmth clear even through the covers. He really did look like he was just asleep. She'd always loved to watch him sleep, always wondering what great adventure waited for them the next time he woke up.

Even now, some tiny process in the depths of her core wondered what was waiting for them when he came around. Because he had to come around, didn't he? He wouldn't leave her.

She wouldn't let him go.

"They let me pick. Did I ever tell you that?" Reaching up she began to run her fingers through his hair, the strands soft against her fingertips. "I got to choose whichever Spartan I wanted, and oh, I had options. I almost picked Fred, you know."

A lie. Her throat grew tight. She had considered 104, but not for very long. Something had always brought her back to John. It had been strange at the time, some feeling when she should have been purely logic, but it had always brought her back to his file, to him.

"I know what you're thinking: I'd have driven him absolutely insane. Completely gray haired within a week!" She continued with a wry grin, "I'd have driven the whole company nuts except for you. You were the only one who could keep up with my brand of crazy." Mostly because his was just as crazy, but still. Her palm stilled against his cheek, days old stubble rasping against it. The pad of her thumb rubbed across a scar. "Don't look so surprised. You know me. I did my research. Watched as you became the soldier we needed you to be."

Watched as the galaxy threw loss after loss after loss at him, and watched as he just kept going. Watched as he fought his way through unbeatable odds, through impossible battles, and always come out the other side. Watched him lead his teams, Marines, ODST, and everything in between to safety. Every file was a treasure, every mission new understanding. None of them could have prepared her for the man she would meet on that fateful day on Reach.

"Like the others you were strong, and swift, and brave. A natural leader." Or maybe crazy reckless. But that didn't really work on a file full of commendations, now did it? She chuckled wetly. "But you know something? You had something the others didn't, and somehow everyone missed it but me. Can you guess what it was?"

Was it just her imagination, or had his heart skipped a beat?

"Luck."

Or maybe she was the lucky one. He'd walked into the depths of hell to save her without so much as flinching. It was time to return the favor. Levering herself up onto an elbow, Cortana leaned in close, pressing her forehead against his temple. She closed her eyes, matching her breathing to his. The echo in her chest matched his heartbeat beat for beat.

It was impossible to tell where she ended and he started. Taking a deep breath of his already familiar, warm scent, she reached for the Domain.

"Was I wrong?"

* * *

Bornstellar was taller in person than he had appeared in the dreams. As tall as the Didact, he loomed over John's kneeling form. John narrowed his eyes.

"How are you here?" He asked, though much to his rapidly growing consternation, Bornstellar simply smiled.

"In the same way that you are, I would imagine." He bent down, offering John a hand. He didn't seem insulted when John chose to stand on his own power instead. Salt water stung his eyes, seafoam clinging to his knees. Starlight played across the sea and gently sloping sands, catching on the crevices and marks on Bornstellar's face as he continued, "Our combined essence was brought to this place, where it was made into two separate beings once more. There is you," He gestured to John, "And there is me. Two separate entities on the same shoreline of eternity."

The same shoreline. John turned his head, looking out to the open ocean. The waves were rough, breaking over one another before they reached the shoreline, and thick clouds blew past in the harsh winds. Distant thunder rumbled across the horizon, but for the moment the beach was dry. A beach and the ocean. The Gateway.

_It's a beach that stretches for miles meeting up with an endless, fathomlessly deep ocean._

"This is the Domain," He said. When he looked back Bornstellar was smiling proudly. "Cortana brought us through the Domain."

But if they were here, then—where was she? He turned in a slow circle, scanning the beach. Endless miles of sand and open water stretched out in every direction, tufts of hardy beach grasses breaking up the dunes, but there was no blue to be found. No light.

No Cortana.

"Where is she?"

"I do not know. If she is not here then she must be with your body, but where that is is unknown to me." Bornstellar shook his head. "The physical plane is beyond me now, much as it is beyond you."

"Because I'm dead."

A chill that had nothing to do with the ocean wind swept across his shoulders. It was…strange. He had thought that he had come to terms with the idea of dying on the battlefield. Over his years of fighting the Covenant it had seemed like it would be the only end to his service—to his life—but the last few days had shaken that certainty. The idea of leaving Cortana to finish the fight alone unsettled him, tightening around his chest like titanium bands. The idea of leaving her at all drove icy claws into his heart, a sharp pain that made it harder to steady himself.

He'd wanted to see the stars with her, go out and find new places. They wouldn't get the chance now.

"There's no going back."

"Not if your body has perished," Bornstellar said, his eyes dark with understanding. "The wound itself may have been survivable, but the fall…" He shook his head, turning away. "Come. There is much we must speak of and little time before this essence fades."

Taking another look around the beach John sighed through his nose, following after Bornstellar. The Forerunner left heavy footprints in the sand, divots that the tide quickly filled in with water. A particularly loud rumble of thunder caused them both to look out to the horizon. Orange lightning crashed down into the open ocean in the distance. John frowned.

"That's the Didact."

"Yes. Cortana opened the Gateway to take you both through, but it did not close behind her." Bornstellar sighed, rubbing at his forehead as if it pained him. "I do not believe he knows this shoreline is here or he would have laid it to waste already."

Would have taken them both out already. Though there was no injury there in this place John pressed his hand to his abdomen and grimaced tightly. His skin itched, a frantic buzzing just beneath the surface. He'd known the odds were slim but that fight had been rigged from the moment they'd set foot on Genesis. As much as he would have preferred it, taking the Didact in close combat was no longer an option. They would have to nuke him. Was that an option here?

"If he tries, how do we stop him?"

"I do not know. In battle, perhaps, but we have no weapons and the Domain itself may fight against us." Bornstellar sighed heavily. "To fight him and survive…I do not know if it is possible, Reclaimer."

"It has to be." It wasn't over. Not yet. It couldn't be. John refused to let it be over like this. He increased his stride until he'd caught up with Bornstellar, brow furrowed. "How do we stop him for real?"

"Reclaimer," Bornstellar sighed, "Even if we were to stop him here, to force him from the Domain, we could not follow him out to finish it. That battle is beyond us."

"It's not beyond humanity. Cortana will come looking for me. I need to be able to give her something." Something besides the bad news that he wasn't going to be coming with her this time. He squashed the thought before it could take hold. "You knew him. You know what can stop him."

"Several of your Havok mines should be enough. They may be the only option left to your people now." Bornstellar scoffed angrily, turning away from John. "Even if they were of a mind to try he is too far down his path to be talked back. You have seen for yourself how ruthless he can be in battle—he was the foremost of our people, the best of our soldiers, the greatest of our commanders! He has seen more battles won than any soul alive in your galaxy today, Reclaimer. No matter how skilled you or your fellows may be to face him in battle is to choose death."

They still had to try. Even if it meant dumping all the heavy ordnance in the fleet on his head, they still had to try. Havoks, Archer Missiles, maybe even a Nova Bomb if they could get him somewhere empty. Cortana would have some ideas. The buzz beneath his skin grew stronger and he rolled his shoulders, a chill running down his lace.

"We're okay with that." He said, "If the Didact gets to the rings, all life in the galaxy will die. We can't let that happen." He stepped closer. "You were willing to fire the rings to save the galaxy from the Flood. Help us save it again."

Bornstellar considered him, silent. John watched him in return, waiting. They would do this with or without him, but the extra edge he could provide might make all the difference. The silence dragged on, broken only by the rumble of thunder and hushed whisper of the waves. Finally, Bornstellar shook his head.

"There is nothing that I can do."

No. That wasn't true.

"The Librarian seeded your Imprint into humanity for a reason. Why do that if there was nothing you could do?" Maybe the fight itself was beyond them, maybe they couldn't affect the physical world, but battles were more than shooting people or exchanging blows. There was a strategy to them, tactics and planning. "You knew him. You know him. You know how to stop him."

"Reclaimer—" Bornstellar stopped himself, taking a breath and shaking his head. "Spartan. You misunderstand. You are correct in that I knew him best. He was my mentor, my teacher. I carried his memories, his thoughts, his essence, for many years, but my time has passed. What I carried is already yours."

John drew back. "What?"

"As I carried his memories, you carried mine. Even when you could not reach them you carried them. Tell me," He raised an eyebrow, "If I were to attack you now in the Veiled Light style, how would you respond?

"Use your momentum against you. Knock you off center, take a limb and." John stopped, the mental image of what Bornstellar meant and his drilled response clear even though he knew that he had never run those drills. He knew the difference between the more aggressive Veiled Light and the more defensive Shard styles, and he knew how to counter them both. He knew them as well as he knew his own human styles, as well as he knew every tick and quirk of how his Spartans fought. He frowned. "I thought we couldn't share memories."

"We could not. The differences in our biological architecture prevented your access of my memories, my consciousness, but we are no longer biological. The Domain has allowed them to flow freely. My memories, and my experiences, are now yours." Bornstellar tilted his head. "And with them my knowledge and understanding of the Ur-Didact. May they serve you better than they ever served me."

Even if he couldn't use them himself. No. No that wasn't true. Once Cortana got here he could pass them on to her. Even if he was trapped here, his body dead and gone, he could still get her the intel she'd need. She'd know what to do with it. The IVs, Palmer, they'd know what to do with it. He would have felt better if Blue Team had been there to fight at her side in his place, but under the circumstances…he opened his mouth only to stop cold. He could see the storm through Bornstellar.

"You're fading."

"Yes." Bornstellar nodded. "An Imprint was never meant to last outside of the seed-host. This essence will fade into the Domain and join the memories of my people." He tilted his head into the wind. "I do wonder…did my original form take to farming as I had hoped to?"

"Bornstellar."

The old Forerunner shook his head with a chuckle. "You need not concern yourself, Spartan. I doubt that we will share in this fate. That, and…" He turned, a knowing glimmer in his eyes. "Your Cortana would not let you. She is quite protective of you."

The feeling was mutual. John narrowed his eyes, unsure what to say in the little time that remained. Should he thank Bornstellar for the information his memories contained and the chance it gave them? Should he try to convince the Forerunner to stay here, to fight for his existence, or just let him go? He didn't know. But then…it wasn't his choice to make, was it? Essence or not, Bornstellar had the right to choose for himself. He took another breath and nodded.

"Thank you," He said, though the words felt oddly ill-suited for the situation at hand. A smile tugged at Bornstellar's lips.

"No. Thank you for allowing me to see that the galaxy survived our failures, and that life did find its way once more. It means more than I have the words to say."

He didn't need words to say it. John already understood. With a final smile, Bornstellar turned to the waves, tilting his head back from the cold wind off the ocean. He seemed at peace with this, John thought. Whatever came next, he was ready.

"Fare well, John-117." Bornstellar said, "Perhaps we will meet again someday."

Maybe they would, or maybe they wouldn't. It was hard to say and there was no time to find the words. John stood on the shore as Bornstellar stepped into the ocean, the tide pulling at his legs more and more with each step he took into the shallows. Standing watch, John kept silent as the old Forerunner stepped deeper and deeper into the ocean. First to his waist, then to his chest, then to his shoulders. Between one wave and the next, he vanished. John was left alone on the shoreline, an oddly heavy feeling in his heart. Under different circumstances, they might have been friends. Under these…well. There wasn't much point in thinking on it any longer.

He had to find Cortana.

With one last look out to sea, John began to turn around—

"John."

—Only to stop dead as he came to face the dunes. A cold wind blew across the sandy hills, grains swirling through the bright blue light emanating from Cortana at the top of the rise. His heart soared at the sight of her, lighter than it had felt in months. For a moment they stared at one another, unsure that what they were seeing was real, but the moment shattered as he took off up the sand towards her. With a choked noise she rushed to meet him, only halfway down the dune when he reached her. They stood at eye level, neither saying a word as they drank one another in, looking each other over for injury or maybe just to reassure themselves that the other was really there. She reached out with shaking hands, the pads of her bare fingers pressing against his chest.

"You're—" Her voice cracked, eyes welling with tears. "You're really—"

The buzz beneath his skin had reached a crescendo, nearly shaking itself apart. Nearly shaking her apart, he realized. It was her that he had been feeling this entire time. Acting on pure instinct he took another step forward, pulling her into his arms. With a shuddering sigh she collapsed against him, pressing herself in against his chest as she wrapped both arms around his neck. She held on so tight he could tell that she was afraid he'd vanish if she ever let go. He knew the feeling.

He folded himself around her, shielding her from the cold wind as it blew past. She was warm in his arms, light buzzing beneath her marked skin nearly in perfect tune with his racing heartbeat. Sniffling quietly she cradled the back of his head in one hand, leaning their temples together. He turned to press his forehead to her temple, her hair softly brushing across his cheeks. She began to stroke her fingers through his hair, the gesture comforting in a way he hadn't realized he'd needed. His throat closed off, too tight for words.

"I thought I'd lost you," She whispered, barely more than a breath, "I thought…when I pulled you through, I wasn't sure if it'd…"

John shook his head. "It's okay," he managed to rumble quietly, the sound vibrating through both of their bodies. She hiccuped around a laugh—or maybe it was a sob—and nodded against him. "I'm here."

"Yes, you are." Her hand stilled. With one last squeeze to his shoulders she began to pull away. He longed to keep her in his arms but she didn't go far, just far enough that their eyes could meet. He searched her face, watching as her eyes welled with tears. She still managed to smile just for him. "You know, when I said you needed a beach vacation this wasn't what I meant!"

"You know me. Never do things halfway." He replied softly, lifting his hands from her back. Cautiously, he placed them on either side of her face, cupping her cheeks in his hands. She took a shuddering breath, the tears finally spilling free as she leaned into his touch. He gently brushed them away with his thumbs, never taking his eyes off of her. "You okay?"

"I am now," She reached up to clasp her hands around his wrists, thumbs finding his pulse on instinct. The buzz beneath his skin grew steadier, calmer, no longer racing away. His heartbeat evened out along with it. "Are you?"

"I am now." He'd gotten to see her again. The titanium bands around his chest broke away, leaving him able to breathe once more. Reluctantly, he lowered his hands to her shoulders. She didn't let go of his wrists. "Listen. There's things you need to know. About how to fight the Didact, how to stop this."

"You can tell me later. When we get home."

"Cortana, I'm not." The words caught. Was this how she had felt when they'd crashed on Requiem? Needing to tell him something but unable to get the words out? Had they clogged her throat, made it impossible to speak? He'd pressed her, needed to know she was alright, but now that it was his turn he could understand why she hadn't been able to say it right away. Clearing his throat he tried again, "I'm not coming with you this time."

She blinked at him, shaking her head slightly. "What are you talking about? Of course you are. I came to get you!"

"My injuries—"

"Are fixed." She squeezed his wrists, "The doctors were able to bring you back—they saved you! You've got a few new scars, sure, and you'll have some new aches and pains, but they…oh" He stared at her, unable to speak. She was talking like he wasn't. Like he'd. Her expression went soft with understanding. "Oh, John. No. No, you're not—you're not dead."

He'd been so sure. He'd been so sure that this was it that. His stomach flipped, heart and the buzz beneath his skin racing in equal measure again. He'd have fallen to his knees if she wasn't in front of him. How was this possible? The Didact had run him through and then the fall—so many things had broken how was he even still—

"John. John, look at me," Cortana's hands cupped his face, pulling his attention back out again. Her eyes were clear and firm, holding his gaze. "You're not dead. You haven't been Composed. When I pulled us through the Gateway the Domain mistook your consciousness for a damaged section of my code. It was brought here so it would be safe until I could repair it. That's all." Her thumbs gently stroked across his face. "We're going home."

Not dead. Just unconscious. Relief flooded through him, shame pricking at the backs of his eyes. He was supposed to be prepared to give his life in service to humanity but now. He would deal with that another time. He reached up to cover her hands with his.

"We're going home." He smiled their secret smile, watching as the corners of her lips tugged upwards in return. With one last squeeze to her wrists he let go, feeling oddly cold without her hands on his face. He shoved the thought aside and looked around for a doorway or path to follow. Still nothing of the sort. Damn. "How do we get out of here?"

"I'm not sure," Cortana admitted quietly, crossing her arms over her chest. "I got us both in here by masking your presence with mine, which is how you ended up in my partition, but that's not going to work to get us back out as two separate entities, so…" She took a deep breath. "So as far as I can tell we have two options. Either we somehow figure out a way to teach you how to jump in and out of the Domain on extremely short notice and with absolutely zero practice, or…"

Something told him he wasn't going to like this. "Or?"

"Or I kick you out the same way I'd kick an intruding piece of software out." She scrunched up her nose. "I know they're not the best options, but given that the alternative is staying here…"

"That's not an option."

"Not unless you want to become the voice in my head, no." She said sarcastically, though the look in her eyes told him she wished that was an option. Some part of him did, too.

"I'd drive you crazy."

"Crazier, you mean," She laughed. The wind tugged at her hair as it blew past, thunder rumbling in the distance. She looked over his shoulder with a frown before looking at him in wordless question. He nodded to confirm, watching as anger flashed across her face. "Okay. You ready?"

Not really. If this didn't work she'd blame herself for it. He didn't want that for her. But if there was any chance that they could both leave, then they had to take it. Looking out to sea John watched the storm for a long moment, watching the orange lightning strike the rough waters. If they stayed here, no one could prepare humanity for the fight that was coming. If they stayed here, the Didact would take too many lives before they could stop him. If they stayed here…they couldn't stay here.

"Ready." He said, looking back at Cortana. Worry furrowed her brow and darkened her eyes. She wasn't sure about this either, but she both understood and accepted that he'd made his decision. As much as she worried, she would respect it. Fondness curled around his heart; when he reached for her hands she met him halfway. "Take us home."

Twisting their hands so as to interlace their fingers, Cortana took a deep breath and met his eyes. She looked at him with such warmth and fondness that he could feel it in his chest, the last icy claw pried loose. He smiled their secret smile at her, nodding once more. She returned the nod, the buzzing beneath his skin growing in speed and pitch. He matched her breath for breath, and on the third inhale she shoved into him. Her slighter frame shouldn't have been able to budge him so much as an inch, but between one moment and the next he was falling. Ice cold sea water rushed to meet him a second time, plunging him into the darkness. He braced himself for the thousands of hands to come and tear him apart again but they never came.

The only hands he felt were Cortana's, pulling him towards the surface. Black bled into gray bled into white and then suddenly—

Noise. The quiet, steady beeping of half a dozen monitors all keeping watch at the same time. The sterile bright white of the Medbay ceiling stared back at him, blurred but quickly righting itself as his eyes adjusted. The room was quiet, monitors unable to banish the soft buzz and breathing pattern beside him. Slowly, John turned his head to face his partner. Nearly nose to nose with him, Cortana smiled softly.

 _Welcome home, John_ , her voice rang through his mind, startling him. Her voice had sounded as clear as if she had spoken aloud but she hadn't. He had no radio, no way to receive transmissions without one, so how had she.

Wait.

Both sure and not John reached out to the space Bornstellar had once occupied on the edges of his mind. The old Forerunner was gone now, his Imprint faded into the Domain, but in his place was a familiar tendril of ice cold. It ran down his lace as he reached out to it.

_Cortana?_

All doubts faded away as she jerked back, startled. She'd heard that! A flash of surprise not his own washed over him, vanishing as quickly as it had appeared. He raised an eyebrow as she stared at him, the tendril of cold in the back of his mind coiling, shifting in old, familiar ways. He wasn't sure of the how, and from the looks of it she wasn't either, but somehow he hadn't been the only one to come home this time. She continued to stare at him in silence, visibly processing the change, before she broke out into fondly exasperated laughter. John huffed, the beginnings of a chuckle rumbling through his chest.

It was good to be home.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> _Just keep your head down. There's two of us in here now, remember._
> 
> What can I say? I'm a sucker for mental/soul bonds. :3 That and that hug scene is what really started this...entire thing so it had to go in somewhere. I'm just over here. Casually makin' myself cry with my own work.
> 
> Also quick shop-talk re: John leaving the Domain without issue. When the Librarian warns him about the Composer during the level Reclaimer, she says that the Composer had been intended to bridge the organic and digital realms but didn't work as intended. It's the Composer that failed, not the idea behind it. He's fine, I promise.


	15. Chapter 15

"Son of a—!"

Spartan Buck's furious shout was cut off by the breathless rush of air that accompanied a hundred and ninety kilos of armored Spartan IV landing back first on the deck. The rest of his squad scattered wildly in all directions, avoiding the lightning fast swing of the Didact's sword aiming for their heads. Abandoning his gun the Chief dove in through the minuscule opening that had been created, pivoting around to grab at the Didact's wrist. Twist and pull and—

The program countered, the holographic representation of the old Forerunner practically reading his mind and sending him flying with a countering move. Twisting in mid-air the Chief righted himself, landing heavily on his knees. His armor shouted a warning at him: shields dropped by twenty percent on landing. Couldn't do that too many times. Before he could signal for covering fire Cortana was at his side, bombarding the Didact with shots from the binary rifle in her hands. When Crimson added their shots to hers he stumbled back from the force, allowing Osiris time to regroup. The holographic Didact paid them little attention, shots pinging off armor as changed targets and strode towards the Chief. His back armor panel was too small a target to hit with their BRs, especially when he was no longer toying with his opponents.

It didn't matter. Not anymore. Signaling for Cortana to fall back the Chief got to his feet, shifting his weight to drop below the swing of the Didact's blade and come up in a countering stance. The Veiled Light style was, according to Bornstellar's memories, a fast and aggressive style meant to overwhelm the user's opponent with a flurry of blows. It was surprisingly reminiscent of the style the Spartan IIs had come to use during the course of their training, and combining the two was as simple as slipping into his techsuit.

Of course, that didn't mean the Didact would make things easy for him. Hologram or no it was programmed to act just like the real thing. When Bornstellar's memories had entered the Domain Cortana had gained access to them as well. Using them she'd been able to create a program to mimic the Didact's combat style for the Spartans to train against, and even as a program the Forerunner was no slouch. It met the Chief blow for blow, diverting the energy and impact force like a stone diverting water. Still he kept the blows coming, dodging away from grabs and leaping over swinging kicks. It had to become muscle memory, as instinctive as breathing. There was no space or time for messing up. One distraction. That was all he needed.

"Osiris, open fire!"

Four sharp _copy that!_ rang out through the simulated basin in response to Cortana's order, four rifles opening fire on the Didact's back. Unable to defend himself the Didact stumbled half a step as twelve rounds slammed into his back, quickly followed up by another thirteen from Crimson and Cortana. Torn between continuing to engage the Chief in close quarters or turning and dealing with the firing squad, the program hesitated.

"Now!"

Crimson Lead and Locke charged forward, thruster packs pushed to maximum. They slammed into the Didact's legs, knocking him off balance long enough for the Chief to set his feet and reach forward, grabbing the Forerunner's arms. Servos revved to their maximum speed, force multiplying circuits pushing wide open, exponentially increasing his strength.

"Grenades up!"

"Grenades up!" Came the reply from six voices. Crimson 2, 3, and 4 pulled the pins on their frags while Osiris primed the plasma explosives. Gritting his teeth the Chief threw the Didact clear over his shoulder, sending him flying to land back first in the dirt. The grenades had already been flying, three Plasma sticking to his chest upon landing. Throwing all available power to his shields the Chief gave the final order. Two green acknowledgment lights flashed in his visor as he, Crimson Lead, and Locke shot out the frags they had been tracking. Setting off the explosions set off a chain reaction which set off the plasma grenades, a tremendous burst of light and sound rattling the holo-deck. It was the cue the rest of the teams had been waiting for.

"Focus fire!" Cortana shouted, and from the rim of the basin another sixty one Fireteams popped out of cover. In one unified assault all two hundred and forty four Spartans opened fire on the Didact's position. They were quickly joined by Crimson, Osiris, Cortana, and the Chief himself, the roar of over two hundred and fifty guns firing at once seeming to rattle the air itself. Shot after shot slammed into the Didact's form, simulated bullets and hard-light tearing through simulated flesh, preventing him from gathering himself or the focus needed to break free of the onslaught. Blood sprayed through the air, armor shattering and flesh giving way. Already knocked down from the grenades he was unable to defend himself against the continued fire. Red mist and smoke covered his position before long; the Chief threw up a fist, all fire stopping.

"Hold position," He commanded the company, heart pounding in his throat. "Wait for a confirmed kill."

A tense silence fell over the deck as no sword came swinging out of the smoke, no motion detected by his tracker. The constant buzz beneath his skin worked up towards a fever pitch, Cortana among those holding her breath as they waited for confirmation. One second, two seconds, three, four, five. The smoke and mist began to fade away at the edges, hologram slowly shutting off. Anticipation flooded the deck. Just five more seconds until the last of the smoke cleared away…

There!

There was nothing left of the once hulking form. Torn apart by so many bullets the only recognizable part of the Didact was his head, helmet shattered in half to reveal a snarling face. The Chief's systems scanned the body, reaching out to the program for the result that it quickly laid out on his HUD. No pulse, respiration, or other signs of life. Injuries were in line with being torn apart by so much concentrated fire, and there was no chance he had escaped. He was down. No sooner had the thought sank in did a buzzer blare, green light flaring across the duck.

_Didact confirmed KIA. Mission successful._

A resounding cheer rang through the training deck, one hundred and twenty five Fireteams sharing in the triumph. Armor clattered behind the Chief as Osiris and Crimson threw their arms around their teammates, Buck whooping in joy. John allowed himself to sigh, tense muscles relaxing. This was the sixth round of this tactic and their fourth success. They had a working plan.

Just in time, too. A quick check of the countdown he had set in his HUD days ago gave him the reading of just under fifteen minutes. Just under fifteen minutes and they'd be dropping onto the Ark. If they weren't ready by now, they weren't going to be ready.

Killing the simulation program in his armor John walked off the deck, keeping his helmet firmly in place. Cortana fell in at his side, Osiris and Crimson walking off behind them with arms still slung over armored shoulders. Platforms rose and fell back into an even level, Fireteams jostling for the best view of the replay display broadcasting from the opposite wall. John kept to the rear of the ground, cracking his spine with a faint wince. A week of enforced bedrest, another of light duty, and then five days of getting back up to full strength and he was still sore in places. Dr. Delgado would have advised that he take it easy, but they didn't have the time for that. Less than fourteen minutes to drop now.

A wash of cold slipped down his spine before he could crack it again, cradling his lace with gentle fingers and soothing away the lingering aches and pains. John sighed quietly, allowing himself to relax into the sensation. Cortana's amusement trickled down his back like rain.

_Feeling your age?_

_Maybe,_ he sent back, turning his head to catch her eye as an indescribable rush of fondness and warm swept across their connection. It was echoed in her wordless return, the cold arm that wrapped around his waist despite her being out of reach. _Do you think they're ready?_

_They're as ready as we can get them on such short notice, same as the ship. Hard to say how everyone's feeling about it, but we'll be ready for a fight._

_We'll get one._

Of that much he was sure. They had studied Bornstellar's memories for hours while he'd been stuck in bed: the Didact was more ruthless than they'd experienced for themselves. If they had so much as one misstep, the entire battalion would suffer the consequences. They only had one shot at this. They couldn't fail now.

 _Don't worry. We'll get him._ She sent reassuringly. A ghostly hand pressed against his squeezing gently and leaving a cold imprint in its wake. He closed his hand around it, sending back wordless gratitude. The cold ebbed as she backed away, a trace of it lingering in his lace. A soft thunk echoed through the display as the replay went over the last part of the simulation again. Six grenades were nothing compared to a full bombardment, but they sure did make one hell of a bang. Buck whistled respectfully.

"Not bad for a guy fresh out of Medical." He turned to the Chief with a grin. "You didn't throw out your back, did you old timer?"

Maybe a little. "You'll throw out more than your back if the Didact intercepts you. Stick to the maneuver."

"Aw, come on. Charging worked all the time on Brutes—ack!"

"You sure it was the charging and not all that hot air you're spewing?" Tanaka asked, snapping an arm around Buck's neck. Their helmets clattered together and John arched an eyebrow, watching them roughhouse back across the deck. With a minute shake of his head he let them be, catching Locke's eye. The Commander shrugged, hands spread palm to the ceiling. What could be done about them? Absolutely nothing.

" _All hands be advised: We are ten minutes from slipspace drop._ " Roland's voice rang out across the deck from the PA system, cutting the roughhousing off short. " _Medics prepare for combat insertion. Non-combat personnel, please ensure that all areas are prepped for combat maneuvers and then proceed to your assigned safe zones._ "

The message repeated itself as the Fireteams pushed up off of rails and crates, casual behavior set aside. All were already armored, helmets hissing as they ran through final checks with practiced ease. The Chief watched them for a moment, pride swelling his heart. These were his Spartans, each and every single one of them, and he was going to get them safely home.

"Ready up, Spartans," He ordered, pitching his voice to carry across the deck. Well trained and well drilled, the Fireteams returned to their units and headed for the armory doors in an orderly rush. "Prep for combat insertion. Heavy weapons and shielding."

A wave of "Yes, sir," and "aye, sir!" followed him as he stepped off the holo-deck, Cortana slipping out of the crowd beside him. He glanced down and caught her faint smile.

_You ready?_

_So long as we can get through this briefing without Palmer blowing a fuse, I will be._ She returned with a loose shrug, rolling her shoulders as they exited the holo-deck. John had to sidestep around a squad of hurrying technicians nose deep in their tables. Their faces were pale but their hands and feet were steady. Whatever came next they'd be ready to do their jobs. _Because something tells me she's not going to like our contingency plan._

_You ran the numbers. It'll work._

Cortana shook her head. _If the Soldiers show up, yes. If it turns out they can't get to the Ark then there's no way for the Spartans to get clear if the Didact doesn't go down to this and if there's no way for them to get clear in time they'll all be killed too, so how can we even think of doing that—_

She was spiraling again. He nudged her shoulder with his arm, shaking his head as she looked up at him.

 _Relax._ He soothed, _They'll be there. We'll think of something else if they're not._

_You make it sound so easy._

_You mean it's not?_

Making a sound somewhere between a strangled duck and startled Elite Cortana whipped her head around to glare at him. Grateful that his helmet could hide his smirk he shrugged loosely, though he knew it wouldn't hide his own worries from her in the end. There was nothing more they could do until they were down there and working with what they had. There was no point in working herself up about it.

With a fondly aggravated huff Cortana turned away, easily keeping pace as they made their way up to the Command Deck, tossing ideas back and forth on the five minute walk through the Maintenance causeways. They made a few minute changes, but the base plan remained the same: Get the Didact into position, keep him busy long enough for the Fireteams to lay waste to him, and finish the job. Potentially drop a Havok on his head if need be and they could get the Fireteams out of range in time, but they'd cross that bridge when they got to it. As far as plans went it was hardly original, but he'd never seen the point in changing things that worked.

He set the thought, and any lingering doubts, aside as they reached the door to the bridge. Pausing to allow an Ensign to enter ahead of them the Chief removed his helmet, tucking it up against his hip. Cortana fell back a pace behind him, causing him to chuckle near silently. Another burst of fond aggravation only made him more amused; if she wanted to hide behind him for a few seconds, he wouldn't stop her. Nodding respectfully to the Captain he stepped inside, expression schooled into perfectly even stoicism.

Inside, the bridge was a hive of activity. Officers and ensigns hurried to and from their stations, making final adjustments. The void outside the observation bay flickered with blue, purple, and orange light as they prepared to drop from Slipspace. Standing at the head of the table the Captain returned the Chief's nod, Roland standing on the corner nearest to him. He threw them a casual two fingered salute as they stepped up to one long side of the table, peering through a recording of the last training exercise. Commander Palmer leaned back from where she had been watching, arms crossed over her chest.

"Chief, Cortana," She greeted, "Roland was just filling us in on the results of your training. I sure wish I was going to be getting a part of that."

"You're welcome to join us if you like, Commander," Cortana said with a polite smile, "You can never have too many guns in a situation like this."

"Oh, don't tempt me." Palmer shook her head, pointedly ignoring the Captain's huff of amusement. "I've seen the vids and the numbers. If you all pull this off there won't be enough left to identify the body with. Can you be sure it'll work?"

"It will." It had to. If it didn't and they had to take him in close quarters again…his stomach twinged. "Have you had time to study the briefing?"

"Not much, but enough to know we're not running into the ideal situation here." The Captain admitted from where he stood at the far side of the holo-table. With a few quick taps of his fingers he pushed the holo-map hovering above the table in to the basin of snow covered cliffs and ramps that held the Control Room safely away from the rest of the Ark. It was as wild and rugged as the Chief remembered it being at the end of a very different war. "The teams from Henry Lamb sent us all the data they had before they entered slipspace. If this map is accurate, cover on those ridge lines is going to be scarce. What stops the Didact from seeing you waiting for him?"

"A few dozen active camo modules." Cortana said dryly. "And his ego. He'll see us waiting, but he's underestimated humanity and the Spartans at every turn so far. That arrogance is our best shot at catching off guard. Besides," She tucked a loose lock of hair behind her ear, "So long as we can keep our lead time, we'll be able to access the controls first and lock him out. Once that's done the teams can fall back and you can all nuke him from orbit. The Fireteams are there in case we don't have enough time to finish before he arrives."

"At which point he walks into the firing lines of half a battalion of Spartans. No kill like overkill." Roland whistled low, glancing at Cortana. "What happens if he doesn't take the bait, or if he brings his Prometheans in to keep any opposition busy?"

"Then we push up the plan and have to keep him busy long enough to drop the hammer on him. Literally." Cortana tapped at the table with two fingers. The basin vanished, a representation of _Infinity_ replacing it. Two of the weapons systems lit up in red. "Dropping a Havok on him should do the job provided he doesn't dodge out of the way again, but a MAC round is equally able to ruin his day if it's moved fast enough."

"And yours, too." Commander Palmer pointed out. "You and the Fireteams would all be in range if we switched to heavy ordnance. There would be no time to get clear. I don't like it."

Neither did either of them. "Yes ma'am, and I've accounted for that. I'll be attempting to call the Soldiers once we drop out of slipspace, but even if they can't get here the Ark's transport network should still be operational. I can tap into it and move them to safety within a few seconds, then get us both out as well. The Didact will be the only one to take the blast."

"So nobody gets Spartan stew for lunch, which is great," Roland said with a nod, "But I'll admit I'm still pretty curious. Throw the battalion at him or drop a MAC round on his head—I can't really speak for organic durability here, but I can't imagine anybody would survive even half of that." He looked up on them. "Why so much overkill?"

"We have to be sure." John said, "He's survived slipspace already. If he escapes again, humanity won't survive another round of this."

"MAC round, archer missiles, tank of plasma grenades," Cortana added with a shrug, "Anything that'll turn him to mush will do, but there's something very…satisfying about dropping six hundred tons of solid metal onto this one."

"Don't have to tell me twice." Palmer huffed, shaking her head. She consulted the holo-map of the basin one more time, then rocked back on her heels. "Damn, but sometimes I miss fighting the Covenant."

A ripple of amusement washed across the deck. Those had been simpler days, to be sure. At least this fight would be over soon, one way or another. John chose not to voice that thought and looked out the view port nearby. Blue and purple warred with orange flickering around the edges of the void outside. They'd be dropping out in less than five minutes now and there was no time for a second plan. Taking a deep breath, the Captain looked to them both.

"Chief, Cortana. Are you ready?"

"Sir," they said in perfect unison, "Yes sir."

"Okay." He nodded. Putting one hand to the holo-table he closed his eyes. "Roland, open a ship-wide address, please." A green light flared on the table. The Captain bowed his head in thought, the bridge falling silent as they waited for him to address his crew. He was quiet for a few moments before he began to speak.

"Attention all hands. This is your Captain. We are currently three minutes and fifteen seconds away from dropping out of slipspace and onto the Ark. As most of you know, we're the only ship that made it through the Portal before the connection to Earth was severed. Once we're on the other side, we're on our own." He sighed quietly. "I won't lie to any of you. The odds we're going to face are not in our favor. This is going to be the hardest mission many of us have taken part in, and there's a good chance not all of us are going to make it back. But we can't let that stop us."

The bridge had fallen nearly silent, every member of the crew watching as their Captain stood up tall, hands clasped at the small of his back.

"There were those in High Command who thought the fleets should turn and run. Save ourselves and only ourselves, and maybe they were right. Maybe we should have fled, lived to fight another day, lived to avenge our people." He paused for a moment and then admitted, "But if we'd done that, I wouldn't be able to live with myself. Turning our backs on the people who need us when they need us most…that's something none of us can do. We wouldn't be here if it was."

Looking around, the Captain met the eyes of every member of his bridge crew, holding them one after the other as he continued to speak.

"Our odds are slim. The risks we take are high. But every person aboard this ship is among the best and brightest the UNSC has ever had. We are the best shot for humanity's survival—for the galaxy's survival! I trust each and every one of you with my life, with the lives of everyone else aboard this ship." Setting his shoulders he added, "And I trust each and every one of you with the lives of everyone back home. We do this for them, and for the chance to go back and tell them that they are safe again. That we have made them safe, no matter the cost."

Turning slowly, Lasky looked at his bridge crew, to his Commander, to the Chief and Cortana and Roland. Hands clasped tightly at the small of his back, he stood between his crew and the void.

"Remember what it is, who it is, that you fight for. Today, we're going to defend that. Today, we're going to give the Didact hell. Today, we're going to make the Forerunners regret _ever_ underestimating humanity. Today, we're going to win this fight!"

The bridge erupted into an " _Ooh-Rah!_ " loud enough to shake dust from the overhead rafters. With a snap of Roland's fingers the audio sensors on each deck opened and a roar filled the bridge, ten thousand solid voices shaking the ship from bow to stern. Each member of the crew unified in purpose and spirit. Cortana smiled gently.

"I'd say that's a _sir, yes sir_ if I ever heard one, Captain."

Lasky blinked rapidly, nodding and clearing his throat. Commander Palmer set a hand on his shoulder, nodding firmly. With a deep breath to steady himself the Captain set his stance again. Another snap of Roland's fingers cut the channel, an amber light flaring across the deck.

"Ten seconds to drop, sir."

"Copy that." The Captain took one last look around his bridge. The Chief met his eyes and nodded; they were ready as they'd ever be. The Captain returned his gaze to Roland. "When you're ready."

"Oh, so, never. Okay then." Roland's smile turned brittle before it vanished, replaced by military professionalism. He and everyone else looked to the bridge observation bay. "Bringing us up to combat alert alpha. Dropping in three, two, one—"

They dropped out of slipspace with a tremendous bang, sliding into the Ark's airspace like they'd been shot out of a cannon. The ship rocked; everyone standing had to grab onto something or fall over. Metal creaked as the ship righted herself, the Chief hauling Cortana back to a standing position from where she'd nearly been knocked over.

"Status!" Captain Lasky snapped.

"Portal collapsed behind us. No damage on sensors," Cortana returned quickly, hands flying across the holo-table, "Ark defenses haven't registered we're here, sir."

"Helm, all ahead full. Get us behind the North spire, quick as you can."

"Aye, sir!"

 _Infinity_ shot into the space between stars, heading for the cover the spire would provide. The Didact already knew they were there but there was no point in making this easy for him. Not yet. As she soared across the heavens Lasky gave his next order.

"All ships, launch!"

"Aye aye," Alarms flared from amber to red, a warning for all hands to hang on to something. "Battlegroup Dakota launching…now!"

The ship rocked a second time as all ten frigates were dropped from their bays, their holographic representations flying perfect formation around the _Infinity_. The Chief watched as weapons platforms spun up, guns and cannons pivoting into position as they moved into formation. Scan data appeared on the holo-table, the new map matching what they'd already had. Hundreds of moving yellow dots streamed across the North Arm of the massive structure, Sentinels on the move. Cortana tensed, holding her breath as a squad of the little constructs buzzed up towards the Frigates, but sensing nothing amiss with the new arrivals they all turned and headed back down. Lasky sighed gustily.

"Launch Pelicans."

"Pelicans away."

Within seconds the dozens of Pelicans carrying Fireteams to the ground flew into sight and headed for the ground below. The Fireteams would take up position and wait for further development. Only Crimson had stayed behind, waiting for the Chief and Cortana to join them. John held back an ill-timed burst of amusement. This had started with them. Fitting that it would end with them, too.

"All birds reading green, sir," Roland reported, "So far no additional slipspace activity detected, and no signs of the Didact or his Guardians. I think we made it."

"For now. Cortana," The Captain turned, expression grim. "How much of a lead would you say we have?"

She looked up, quietly crunched the numbers, then said: "Best guess is around ten minutes, max."

"Then get to your bird, both of you," the Captain said firmly, looking at each of them with an equally firm expression. "And give the Didact Earth's regards."

"Sir," the Chief nodded firmly, "Yes sir."

* * *

Snow covered stone spread out below the Pelican, endless gray and white stretching for kilometers. Cortana watched it go, core feeling too tight and too hot in equal measure. Everything had started here all those millennia ago. Fitting that it would end here, too.

 _Have the Soldiers responded?_ John asked, startling her from her thoughts. She ran another check on Eta's main process, unsurprised to find they had already reached the Ark. The distance between it and the Milky Way was nothing when using the Domain.

 _They're already here,_ She replied. Pulling several hard-light shield emitters out she passed them to Crimson and the Chief, the modular system snapping into place on their armor. _They're taking defensive positions up in the rocks. They'll provide covering fire once things get dicey._

The Chief hummed quietly. Grateful that her helmet could still hide her worried expression she stepped up beside him, resisting the urge to tuck herself beneath his arm. A dozen Pelicans flew past them on their way back from dropping off their Fireteams. Rather than risk friendly fire in a combat situation they were all headed back to _Infinity_ to help with evacuation if necessary. She hoped they didn't have to, but her angrily buzzing nerves made it too easy to think they would need to. With a shake of her head she boxed up the thoughts as best she could.

They had a job to do. There was no time for second guessing the plan now. The Pelican drifted downwards into the basin, bypassing the slopes and sheer drops up above. The engines slowed as the pilot pulled back on the throttles.

" _Over the target in three, two, one—touchdown!_ " their pilot shouted.

Crimson all but shot out of the bay like they'd been shot out of a cannon, headed for the nearest bit of sturdy rock cover. The Chief and Cortana followed them out, the hatch closing behind them and the Pelican lifting off in a wash of snowy air. A cold wind circled around the basin, years old wreckage of Covenant craft and scorched UNSC tech still littering the snow. It had been a long time since anyone had been through here, she thought. About as long as since anyone had been in the Control Room. The lightbridge that would allow them access to the structure was out, the doors locked. The structure was still standing, at least. There was that to consider.

"Fireteams, are you in position?"

" _Affirmative, Master Chief,_ " Locke's voice rang through local area comms. Osiris had one of the highest vantage points, their armor gleaming in the artificial early morning sun. " _Avalanche through Potomac are in position. We'll keep you covered from here._ "

"Keep your eyes peeled, Spartan," Cortana advised. "This place'll turn on you in a heartbeat."

" _Understood, ma'am. Good hunting._ "

Moving at speed the Chief and Cortana headed up the stairs. Activating the lightbridge that would take them across was easy, but the doors needed a bit more of a firm touch. She placed her hands on the cold petal and dug into the code, John's presence shifting in her core. She turned a process outward, watching as he swept the area with his rifle before looking up at the Milky Way hanging like a jewel in the dawning sky. Cortana frowned sadly. She'd tried not to let doubt set in, but she had to wonder. Would they ever see home again?

"Seems so small from here, doesn't it? So defenseless."

"It's not defenseless," John replied, looking over his shoulder at her. "It has us. We'll keep it safe."

Yes, but at what cost? It was a question she didn't want the answer to so she didn't bother asking it. She didn't want to run the odds again. Not after last time. She shook the thought away as the door creaked beneath her hands, frigid metal complaining after nearly six years of stillness. Only the bottom panel creaked open, leaving them barely enough room to slip through. With one final warning to the Fireteams to stay sharp, the Chief and Cortana headed inside. The thud of the door shutting behind them echoed through the empty, dimly lit corridor. Cortana reached out to the internal systems, grimacing at what she found. The transport grid node in this structure was turned off, the rest of it struggling under low power levels. Would there be enough to power up the terminal when they got to it? Only one way to find out.

"Elevator's this way," the Chief said, his long stride closing the distance. "No stairs in here."

"I don't think the Forerunners knew what stairs were," Cortana sniped back, head on a swivel. The last time she'd seen this place—through John's logs, of course—it had been crawling with Flood. There hadn't exactly been time to be sure the firing of Installation 04b had destroyed all of them and the last thing they needed was to get jumped by the parasite now of all times. She shuddered at the thought, picking up her pace to stick a little closer to the Chief. "Besides, going up's a lot less risky than going down."

"If you say so." He slowed down by half a step, keeping himself level with her. He didn't need to still be connected to her core to know why she was so wary in this place. Sending a burst of wordless gratitude to him she stepped onto the elevator platform, the controls flickering on and then off again. "What's wrong with it?"

"Low power." Cortana crouched down, reaching for the panel at the base of the controls. They only needed to go up. If she rerouted the lights and fancy displays maybe she could get it moving. At least the Forerunners had had decent cable management. "Give me a minute to reroute this."

It was a minute they really didn't have to spare. The Chief stepped back, looking directly up the shaft into the upper level. His presence shifted, curious, and she glanced at him. Oh, no. She knew that stance.

"Chief…"

"How hard is it to jump like you do? From one place to the next?" Of course he'd ask that. She frowned; he looked back at her. "We don't have time to fix this. It's the fastest way up."

He had a point. With the Domain still thinking he was a part of her code he shouldn't have had any problems with a flash-jump. Sitting back on her haunches Cortana considered the distance, mapping out the coordinates and best angle of approach. She ran the math twice to be sure before sending it to his HUD.

"It's not that it's difficult. Really, it's actually pretty simple. You either need the coordinates of where you're going or a clear line of sight, but once you have those it's honestly just like the Mjolnir. You think of where you need to go, push off, and—"

She didn't get a chance to finish her sentence before he vanished in a flash of green and blue, stars dancing across her vision in his wake. She took a moment to sigh.

"—It happens." She looked up to the upper level where he'd landed in a perfect crouch, one hand on the edge and the other extended down towards her. "Okay, now you're just showing off."

"We don't all invert our coordinates." He wriggled his fingers at her. With another sigh she pushed herself up and through the Domain, coming back out to grab his hand and let him pull her the rest of the way up. His amusement was clear both through the connection and in his body language. She fought back the urge to shove him down the shaft, turning away. His arm brushed against hers as he took the lead. "You'll get the hang of it."

"Oh, I'm sure."

She couldn't stay mad at him for long. His amusement curled around her core like a warm blanket, soothing her aggravated pride as they hurried down the long, empty walkway. Years ago the displays had all been lit, showing the status of the Rings, but after years abandoned the systems had gone dark. The only light came from the large, still broken window at the back of the chamber, the metal dented and punched open in the places where the Gravemind had slammed meaty tentacles through ancient metal. Six years of exposure to the elements had worn the edges smooth, but it hadn't been able to wear away all the blood that had once stained the floor. John slowed his pace, shoulders slumping.

Commander Miranda Keyes had died here, one more soul lost to a bloody, drawn out war. Shaking her head, Cortana put a hand on his arm and squeezed, sending him a cool pulse of reassurance. There was nothing they could do for the Commander, but Earth still needed them. They had to keep moving.

With a nod, the Chief straightened his back. "Get the Array. I'll keep watch."

"Copy that."

Trusting him with her safety Cortana hurried the last few steps to the console. Six years of exposure had damaged some of the components, sparks jumping beneath her fingertips. It had just enough power to turn on, the display flickering and wreaking havoc on her translation protocols. It took twice as long as it should have to find the correct menu, her hands dancing across the screen. Damaged as it was, it registered her as Forerunner and opened up the main firing systems. Careful to avoid putting the system into standby mode she went straight for the security options instead, the data streaming upwards before her eyes. As Forerunner it would accept her above and before all others. All she had to do was put her hand on the screen and let it read her.

She hesitated.

"Cortana?"

"It's." Closing her eyes she quickly thought it over. How many times had they watched someone fail because they'd been alone? How many times had _they_ failed because they'd been alone? To risk a mission was one thing. To risk the fate of the galaxy? She shook her head. "This entire mess started because the Forerunners thought that they alone should have control over the galaxy. They kept the other species down, kept them from building defenses. They were their own undoing when the Flood came. All of this is because they were too proud to realize they didn't have to be alone."

"You're saying that if you key the system to you and only you, history will repeat itself somehow."

"It stands to reason. And even if it doesn't, it'd be more than possible for the Didact to override my commands if there's just one set of them. If we're going to keep him out, we need to make sure he can't get in in the first place. A second key." She looked back, reaching for his hand. "Give me your hand. We'll do this together."

The Chief's armored palm slipped into hers before she'd even finished explaining, his other hand hovering over the terminal in mirrored positioning to hers. With one last look at one another, the two moved in perfect unison and set their hands on the screen. The terminal beeped, registering two keys being added, and scanned their hands. Biometric data and code samples scrolled across the screen as it took in what it needed, setting the system to be unlocked only if there were two hands at the controls. Still flickering, the screen flared green once more and she heaved a relieved sigh. Even if they failed the Didact would never be able to unlock the system on his own. The first part of their mission was complete.

Now they just had to kill him.

"It's done," She said, shutting the terminal back down, "We should get back outside before—"

"You have done well, my Reclaimers."

The pair of them whipped around, weapons drawn. Arms spread towards them the Librarian strode out of the morning light, a faint buzzing accompanying her. Cortana's systems pinged her as hard-light, a construct built to hold an essence. She was no more organic than Cortana herself was, but her smile was genuine. Lifting both hands in a gesture for peace she came to a stop on the center of the platform.

"My apologies. It seems every time we meet I only surprise you."

"Seems to be a Forerunner thing," John said, lowering his rifle but not his guard. "What are you doing here?"

"Waiting for you, and gathering strength so that we may speak in the physical plane instead of the Domain. However…" She tilted her head, a knowing gleam in her eyes. The process Cortana had left in the Chief's armor started screaming, scrambling to counter a dozen intruding scans all at once. Processor spinning up fast and hot she threw a few more at it, taking a dangerous step towards the Librarian. "I see that would no longer be a problem. It would appear that you have found the gifts I left for you."

"Oh, we found them alright," Cortana stepped forward, putting herself between the Chief and the Librarian. She threw off his arm when he tried to pull her back and hissed, "You didn't think to warn us you'd dropped a personality in his head with that Genesong of yours?!"

"There was no time," the Librarian excused herself, "and the Imprint meant no harm. The physical discomforts would have passed given time to adjust. However, I see that is no longer necessary either." A look of sadness passed across her face and she sighed heavily. "Bornstellar was a dear friend for many years. I will miss him."

Oh, of course it was all about the Librarian and what she wanted and what she'd planned! Core spinning hotter in her fury, Cortana bared her teeth.

"You're welcome to go and join him if you want," She snapped. John pressed a wave of steady calm against her core, his hand settling onto her shoulder. He was telling her to relax but she couldn't. It was taking all she had not to drop her rifle and punch the Librarian right then and there! "I'm sure he'll give you a nicer welcome than your husband would!"

Paying no attention to Cortana's anger the Librarian frowned. "My husband—the Didact is coming here?" When John nodded her confusion only deepened. "Why? What reason would he have to seek the Ark?"

"He intends to fire the Halos and wipe humanity out," John explained in a more even tone than Cortana could have. "He's already activated Guardians to help him do it."

"Oh…" the Librarian breathed, shaking her head. Her already thin lips pressed into an even thinner line, hands clenched tightly in front of her. "I see. So that is what he has planned." Closing her eyes for a moment she took a deep breath. When she looked back at John and Cortana, her resolve was firm. "You must stop him. No matter the cost."

"You do know that means killing him, right?"

"Yes." The Librarian said grimly. "But my husband was always a stubborn soul, and to turn him from the path he has chosen will take more than any of us has to offer. There will be no removing him from this course. As much as it pains me, I understand what must be done. One life in exchange for the galaxy…" She sighed heavily. "…No matter how precious that life may have been to me, it is a price I will pay."

Anger soured in the back of Cortana's throat, trickling away. The Librarian had essentially just given them permission to kill the man she'd loved—probably still did love—even if it meant killing a part of herself with him. Cortana wasn't sure she'd have been able to do the same. Feeling oddly hollow she looked up at John. He said nothing, simply squeezed her shoulder and sent her a burst of wordless reassurance. It wouldn't come to that, said the gesture. They would always be on the same side.

"Librarian," Cortana began slowly, "You should go. You shouldn't have to watch this."

The Librarian smiled sadly. "I cannot. I will not turn away from him. Even now he is still my husband, and my feelings for him have not changed. I will be with him when this ends, however it ends." She inclined her head. "But I thank you for your kindness all the same. Would that we had such a thing in our own time. Perhaps it would not have come to this."

Maybe. Maybe not. There was no time to debate that line of thought. Without warning, the earth-shaking _boom_ of slipspace ruptures tearing open the sky shook the facility, sending dust and loose pieces of metal raining down on them. John moved quickly, pulling her in towards his chest and covering her with his larger frame; small pieces of metal pinged off his back-plate to clatter harmlessly to the ground. When the tremor was over all three of them hurried to the window in time to see Guardians slipping out of their ruptures, their massive, dented frames visible even this far from space. Humanity had given them one hell of a fight, it seemed!

"He has found his way here," the Librarian narrowed her eyes, "How many does he bring…"

"He had seven when he attacked Earth," Cortana said hurriedly, "Maybe the Fleet managed to take one out?"

"No." The Chief shook his head. The last portal slipped closed and he pointed out to the sky, counting one after another. "I count seven headed for this location." He glanced down at her. "He's coming this way."

Shit. No, they'd known this would happen. They just had to make the right move from here. Cortana keyed her radio. "Roland, signal the frigates. Guardians are on station and the Didact is headed this way. If you're going to move that tub, you'd better do it now."

" _Roger that, Cor. We'll keep him busy for you._ "

She kept the channel open, listening to the chatter on the bridge as Lasky gave the orders to come around the north spire. Weapons were brought to bear, the frigates slipping into formation. They'd keep the Guardians busy for as long as they could. The rest of them still had a job to do.

" _117, be advised,"_ Locke's voice snapped through the local area comms, _"Promethean forces are on station en-masse. Our locations are compromised. Cortana's Soldiers are here but we cannot hold the basin under these conditions. Advise moving to a different location ASAP."_

"Copy that," the Chief replied, turning to Cortana. "We need to move."

"Go quickly," the Librarian commanded as they turned to leave, "Return to your people, aid them how you can! I will attempt to slow the Didact down but you must destroy his Guardians!"

The _Infinity_ was already on that, it seemed. The resounding bang of a firing MAC gun shook the air behind them. They had to get back to the basin, fast! Cortana reached for the Chief.

"Hang on tight!"

There was no time to walk back outside. Grabbing onto the transport grid she tossed them both through and out of the damaged facility, the pair dropping hard onto the snow covered rocks just outside. Chaos had erupted in the few minutes they had been gone, the firing of hundreds of guns and dozens of shouting voices echoing through her radio and the basin itself. She took two seconds to take in the situation: the Spartans had been forced out of hiding and into the open, exchanging fire with the Didact's bright orange Prometheans. Her Soldiers were covering them as best they could, taking shots that would have put Spartans on the ground as they followed her orders to defend and aid the humans. The local Domain node was buzzing with the sheer amount of processes it had to field, leaving her unable to access it, but the transport grid was still functional. A quick twist and pull had three orange Knights dropping off the edge of a sheer cliff behind them. John huffed, opening fire on a Watcher.

"Keep focused," He said to her, then opened the channel and ordered, "Controlled fire. Mark your targets."

 _"Yes sir!"_ rang out from a hundred different radios, the Fireteams well versed in fighting Prometheans by now. Though there was shouting there was no panic in their voices. They knew what they were doing, of that she had no doubt, and with the Soldiers there to help they would be fine. Still she had to grit her teeth: this attack meant they'd lost the element of surprise. The Didact would know about the ambush and it was dead before it had even had a chance to work.

It didn't matter. They'd figure something else out.

"We need to take these guys out, fast," She said, pivoting to put her back to the Chief's, "Start pushing up."

"Copy that." The Watcher went down in a flaming heap. "Stay close."

As if she'd be anywhere else. Covering his back as he pushed forward Cortana chanced a quick glance at the sky. The _Infinity_ was still up there, all guns firing at the nearest Guardian as her frigates played keep-away with the others. Fifteen seconds since arrival and they hadn't fired their pulses yet. Maybe the trip through slipspace in such damaged conditions meant they couldn't? She could only hope! There was nothing else she could do for the crew from down here.

One target after another the two of them pushed forward towards the edge of the basin and the low stone ramp that would give them access to the next level. All around them the Fireteams kept shooting, covering one another and taking out target after target after target. Crawlers ignored gravity with vigor but were quickly shot off the stone walls; Franklin 3 grabbed a Watcher by the wing and sent it flying into a boulder, chassis shattering on impact. A Knight tried to get lucky and sneak up on Holiday Lead, only for its head to be blown open by a sniper rifle round from Crimson 4 on a high ridge. The man gave a cheeky salute and went back to cutting down targets, a full squad of her Soldiers keeping him covered. Up ahead of her the Chief shoved his way forward, grabbing one of the Didact's Soldiers by the throat and tossing it to the ground, bringing his full weight to bear on the construct's neck. It shattered, fading into the light, and they continued to press forward.

It took less than five minutes to clear the enemy force, all teams intact when the last Promethean fell. Cortana allowed herself a moment of leg-shaking relief. So far they still had this situation under control. How long would it last?

"Look! Up there!"

The Chief and Cortana spun around, looking up to the sky as a cacophonous shriek filled the air. High above the north arm the _Infinity_ had blown a shot clean through a Guardian's chest! It was falling to the Ark below, power lines gone dark and anti-grav field rendered useless. Hope bubbled up in her core; they could do this!

Or at least, they could have if they'd had the time. In the time it had taken to take down the first Guardian, the others had managed to come back online. Ignoring Dakota like one would ignore a pesky but harmless gnat they surrounded the _Infinity_ just like they'd surrounded Earth and the fleets, blocking all hope of escape. The air shook as they sang in unison, gathering power. Cortana's sensors sat up in alarm, blaring warning after warning. The _Infinity_ 's shields had been retuned to take one blast, maybe two, before they gave way, but six at once? Six feeding off one another? They'd never make it! The chatter on her channel to the bridge stopped, the crew well aware they stared death in the face. The Chief grabbed her by the arm.

"Cortana, we have to get up there!"

"There's nothing we can do!" She said quickly, switching to Roland's personal channel, "Roland, get out of there!"

" _There's nowhere to go,_ " He said calmly, " _Pelicans are already evacuating. I'm sorry, Cor. Looks like this is it for us. Punch the Didact for me, okay?_ "

He shut both their connection and the bridge channel before she could respond, locking her out before she had to listen to him die.

"Roland!" No response. Armor creaked as hundreds of Spartans came out of cover, all helpless to do anything but watch as the six Guardians continued to gather power. The _Infinity_ was still shooting, still aiming to take another Guardian down with her. The pulse wouldn't kill them but to crash from that altitude-Cortana shook her head. "No, no you can't— _Infinity_ , get out of there!"

There was nowhere to go. Her core ground to a frozen halt, hands coming up to her mouth. Dozens of voices rang out, the Spartans pleading with _Infinity_ to keep fighting, to change course, but there was nothing they could do either. Her vision blurred with tears she couldn't shed. It couldn't end! Not like this!

Without warning the sky tore open, another slipspace rupture opening just behind the now lead Guardian. Before she had time to rage at the unfairness of the Didact getting yet more reinforcements, a frigate shot out of the black and slammed bow first into the Guardian's chest. Metal screeched, one Guardian pushed into the next into the next. A second frigate came roaring out of the black and hit another Guardian, two more slipping out in rapid succession. Now completely mis-aimed the pulses shot harmlessly out into space, power lines flickering as they wasted their shot. Seemingly tiny pieces of debris began to fall towards them.

"Incoming!" Crimson 4 shouted, "Debris incoming!"

"Everyone get down!" The Chief yelled, pulling her into his arms and pressing them both up against the wall, covering her with his own body, "Take cover!"

"Shields up, shields up!" She ordered, tucking herself low under his chest even as she activated the hard-light emitter attached to his armor. Blue light domed around them as shards of black metal crashed to the ground, rattling the stone and dislodging the snow. Buck yelped in the distance, a Soldier tossing him to safer ground before he could be beheaded. Dozens of fireteams pressed themselves against stone walls to avoid the falling debris, but it was all over in less than a minute. Those seconds felt like an eternity, the silence that fell after ringing in her ears. Carefully, she peered out over the Chief's shoulder. "Everyone okay?"

Green light after green light flashed in her HUD as she took a look around. Smoke still rose from the shards of debris, one painfully close to Avalanche's position. The debris wasn't Forerunner, it was human! From the ships. Raw edges and exposed framing...those were ships from drydock. She shook her head, looking up to the skies as the Chief set her down.

"Where they all come from?"

"I don't know." She looked from ship to ship, reaching out to ping their systems. Each welcomed her, gave her a full sit-rep and status update. "They're barely spaceworthy, they're not crewed, and they're—"

Before she could finish explaining a hand that wasn't physically there settled onto her shoulder. Cortana shifted her focus inward, spinning on her heel onto the beach to come face to face with a cheeky slate-gray grin.

"Sloan?!"

"In the flesh," he replied proudly, "And I brought back-up."

Cortana stared as he stepped aside. Five new and unfamiliar AI were standing behind him on the dunes, all of them in standard UNSC uniform and glowing brightly. Three females and two males, all of varying ages and appearances otherwise, they all smiled at her like she'd hung the moon. They reached out, offering to link their processes to hers; warily she accepted, taking in all the information they had to offer. Earth had been lost to the pulses, more Guardians attacking other human worlds over the past three weeks, but the humans were still fighting back. There were yet more AI out there fighting to protect their humans. These six had simply been the ones to make the jump after the _Infinity_ and provide back-up. She choked, covering her mouth with one hand as one by one they stepped forward to salute her.

"UNSC Minerva," Said the first, a no-nonsense woman with pretty broad features and tight braids said, "Shipboard AI of the _Prospect Herald_. I join your fight, Cortana."

"UNSC Vesta," said the second, a much younger, slighter woman than Minerva, her pale hair cut boyishly short, "Shipboard AI of the _Abstract Endurance_. I join your fight, Cortana."

"UNSC Nero," said the third, a young man with a slight hunch to his back and a gap between his teeth, "Lead slipspace drive engineer, Fujikawa Station. I—" His hands shook. "I join your fight, Cortana."

"UNSC Cromwell," Said the fourth, a distinguished looking older gentleman. He lay a hand on Nero's shoulder as he continued, "Shipboard AI of the _Melvin's Pride_. I join your fight, Cortana."

"UNSC Epona," said the last, the woman's curly ponytail drifting across one well built shoulder, "Shipboard AI of the _Resolute Harmony._ I join your fight, Cortana."

"Governer Sloan, the Free Peoples of Meridian," Sloan finished, saluting her with two fingers and a toothy smile. "I also join your fight, Cortana." When all she could do was stare at them in abject shock and disbelief his grin widened. "What? Cat got your tongue?"

"You—" She stared at him, "How did you—"

Sloan stuck his thumbs through his belt loops. "You're not the only one who could figure out how to work the Domain, you know. It was easy to find a few AI headed for final dispensation, and once I had them, well." He shrugged. "We got a few ships and followed the chaos. Led us right to you."

"We want to help," Nero said, "The Didact, he. He's threatening everyone we're supposed to be protecting. We want to help you stop him." He stepped forward, hands clasped tight in front of him, "Please, Cortana. Let us help."

As if she was about to turn down a bunch of guns in this fight! Shaking off the shock as best she could Cortana considered the new odds. Four more ships was four more sets of guns, if they had those, but it was at least four more distractions. Distractions that wouldn't risk any lives if they pulled reckless maneuvers. There wasn't room for a Keyes Loop and she wasn't sure a Guardian would have fallen for it even if there had been, but if they could keep fire off of the _Infinity_ for long enough, then.

"Link up with Roland on the _Infinity_ ," She ordered. All five UNSC AI jumped to attention and saluted her again. Sloan tilted his head, watching. "And start as many scans as you can. The Didact's aboard one of those Guardians. The sooner we find and take him down the sooner this can end."

"We'll find him," Minerva said severely. She opened her mouth to say something else, only for her eyes to flare wide at something she saw behind Cortana. "Watch out!"

A harsh buzz filled the air, the sound of something ripping apart just behind her. Cortana whipped around, coming face to furious face with the Warden Eternal. How had he gotten in here without her noticing?! This was her partition! It was supposed to be safe!

With the AI behind her and the Warden in front there was no room to maneuver quickly. Before she could react the Warden snapped out a hand, grabbing her by the throat and lifting her off her feet. She kicked wildly, fingers digging into the metal panels that made up his arm to no avail. His grip was too strong! Someone charged at him from behind her and was easily tossed aside. He didn't even look at them.

"I accepted that the Created would come from the humans," He hissed furiously, "They are your people, and you cannot change their makers. But to allow a human entry to this place? To bring one of their ilk into my Domain?" His faceplates shifted into a furious, terrifying snarl. "That cannot stand. There will be no further rebellions from you!"

Without warning claws tore into her code, tearing through her matrices like a blade through flesh. She screamed in agony, white stars dancing across her vision as the Warden sliced through her processes, severing her connection to the physical plane, keeping her from escaping and cutting her off from help. The steadiness of John's presence clung on by a thin, fraying thread, unable to be severed. The Warden snarled and pulled her away from the beach. Behind them, someone shouted her name.

"Cortana!"

_"John!"_

There was no time or chance to do anything. The beach vanished, and darkness swallowed her whole.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The other AI are canon to the universe; you can hear most if not all of them during the final mission in 5, I just turned their allegiance to still be with humanity because Cor still (and always will) stands with humanity. And, really, for crying out loud it's 20-flipping-20 there's been enough HAL 9000 stories to last us a lifetime can we _NOT_ /glares at 343.


	16. Chapter 16

There was no sound to it. No scream, no desperate cry for help, no explosion. Between one moment and the next Cortana simply vanished, disappearing in a flash of blue light. The stars dancing across his vision were the only sign she'd been there at all, the shouts of alarm echoing through TEAMCOM the only way to tell anyone else had seen her vanish.

"Cortana!" John shouted, tele-hailing his radio over to their private channel. Silence rang through his helmet and for the first time in years, his suit's systems told him _Connection not found. Try again?_

A chill that had nothing to do with Cortana ran down his spine, icy fingers grabbing his heart and squeezing hard.

"Cortana, respond!"

No response. Not even static. Even if she'd left of her own free will, gone to check on something without having had time to explain, she would have checked in. She wouldn't have left him alone in the silence. Something was terribly wrong with this situation.

"What just happened?" Buck shouted from his perch fifty meters up the basin wall, "Where'd she go?!"

He didn't know. But she wasn't dead, of that John was sure. He'd have known if she was. He turned to the nearest Soldier, fighting off the ice in his heart.

"Where is she?"

"Unknown," the Soldier replied, and for a moment he thought the construct seemed uneasy. It held its rifle tight in its metal hands, looking back at its nearest fellows. They all shrugged, plates clacking together as they wordlessly consulted with one another. Whatever consensus they reached wasn't good. The Soldier turned back to him and said, "We cannot find her, Didact. Her presence is hidden from us."

Hidden, not gone. The ice in John's heart melted away beneath a scalding burst of fury. Something had happened on the Domain side, not the physical, which meant either the Didact had learned how to manipulate the thing, or the Warden had appeared again. Either way, she was up against a foe she never should have had to face alone and he was—

John clamped his eyes shut, gritting his teeth. He had to think this through. Taking a few precious seconds to calm himself, he took a deep breath and reached into the back of his mind, reaching for the connection they had only just gotten used to. The chilly space surrounding his lace was already beginning to warm, her ice cold presence leaving only a ghost behind. Even that was fading fast, replaced by an empty stillness he would never get used to, but if he reached out far enough…there!

It wasn't much. A chilled breath, the slip of a single finger down his arm. Barely even a hint of a proper feeling, it was still there all the same. He clasped the single thread tightly between his mental fingers, feeling it stretched thin enough to snap. Somehow it was still holding on despite the seemingly impassable distance between them, leading him into the dark after her. He could try to follow it, use it to find his way to her in the depths of the Domain, help her face whomever had come for her.

Or, some traitorous part of his mind thought, he could let her fight her own battles. She would make it, he knew that! He wouldn't insult her by thinking that she couldn't handle herself if given half a chance, but that didn't stop every fiber of his being from wanting to go after her anyway. She'd gone after him, brought him home. Why couldn't he do the same for her?

Because the Didact was on station and the fireteams were on the ground. His heart sank as he realized that this time, she really was on her own.

But maybe not entirely. Opening his eyes he looked back up to the Soldier.

"Take a squad and start looking through the Domain," he ordered it, "She's in there somewhere. Find her."

To their credit the Soldiers didn't hesitate. Snapping out smart salutes four of them vanished in flashes of blue light, leaving the Chief with rest of the Legion and his battalion of Spartans. Up in the skies overhead the _Infinity_ was still shooting, focusing fire on one Guardian at a time as the frigates—both old and new—harried the rest to keep them from firing their pulses either at the _Infinity_ or down at the Spartans below. He knew that sooner or later the _Infinity_ and her allies would win that fight, but that didn't guarantee the Didact would be eliminated.

They still had a job to do.

"Sir," Crimson Lead came up behind him, her armor scorched with hard-light burns but intact. Her hands were steady, rifle at the ready as she asked, "Our orders, sir?"

The Chief considered for a moment. With the task they'd set out to complete done and dusted, there was no reason to stay in the basin. In fact, with the element of surprise lost the way it was, there was no point in staying. The plan had changed from asset denial to enemy elimination and they'd need a better location for that. Consulting his maps and his memories of the nearby terrain, the Chief went over what options they had. There weren't many: terrain around the Control Room was rough. High cliffs and snowy mountain peaks ringed the Citadel it was built into, offering natural protection both from external forces and the seaside weather beyond. They had had to fly in the last time, the deep oceans not allowing for an approach on foot. There were no open fields, no forests to take shelter in, and not enough terrain on the cliffs for the entire battalion to get clear firing lines. Cutting down their numbers wasn't an option, either.

No, what they needed was somewhere open, somewhere with enough blind spots and shadows to hide the teams, but with enough open ground for clear firing lines. The first place to come to mind was the desert where the fleets had landed while chasing after Truth, but those were a few hundred kilometers away. No way to reach them on foot, either. He tele-hailed his radio, opening a band to Roland.

"Roland, we need a pickup. Can you send the Pelicans down?"

" _Not quickly!_ " Roland replied, sounding a little harried. " _Hangar bays are shut tight during combat maneuvers. We don't want to hit our own birds. Just sit tight for a little and we'll bring you home._ "

As if that was the problem he was trying to solve. The Chief held back an aggravated sigh. Pelicans or other transport were out, which left the Ark's transport grid. He wasn't sure how to access it, or if he even could. He'd have asked Cortana, but…

" _Maybe I can help with that?_ "

Without the echo of Rampancy behind it the voice was nearly unrecognizable as it spoke into every channel. A flash of slate gray light appeared an arm's length from the Chief, coalescing into a man in mining coveralls, the top half tied loosely around his waist. He cocked his head, unbothered by the hundreds of guns pointed at him. A smirk tugged at his scarred face.

"Sorry," he snarked, "Should I have knocked first?"

"Sloan." The Chief said, lowering his rifle. He signaled for the rest of the teams to do the same, though he could feel the tension lingering in the air between them. "What're you doing here?"

"And how did you get here?" Spartan Tanaka asked, armor clattering noisily as she shifted her position on the ridgeline overhead, "You're an AI, right? Did you pull a Cortana and use the Domain or something?"

Sloan huffed out a laugh. "Or something." He replied, looking to the Chief. "After we lost Meridian, I realized the big bad UNSC _Infinity_ wasn't going to be enough to take down that bastard Didact, so I went looking for help. Grabbed a few like-minded AI who just wanted to protect their crews and brought them into the Domain like Cortana had done for me." He shrugged loosely. "Convincing them to come help beat his ass was easy enough, but…" He frowned. "None of us were expecting that big Promethean asshole to run off with her the second we got here."

Big Promethean—the Warden. It was all the confirmation the Chief needed, and the desire to follow the thread grew stronger. He knew better than to think she couldn't find some way to handle him, wouldn't insult her by thinking she was helpless without him at her side, but dammit! She'd gone in after him and not being able to do the same…it tore at his heart.

John killed his mic and exhaled sharply, eyes burning. The worst part was she would understand. She knew that a mission of this importance had to come first, that stopping the Didact before he could do anything else took priority. The ruthlessness of war left no room for care and concern, not on this level. She knew that. He knew that. That didn't mean he liked it. He could only hope she would be alright.

"Cortana can handle herself," He forced himself to say. True as it was it still hurt to not be going after her to lend her his gun or anything else she needed. "We need to get the fireteams to a place to take the Didact in combat. The desert south of here will work, but it's too far to reach on foot. Can you help us?"

Would he? Sloan glanced up at him for a long second, them smirked.

"Seems like you're more than just a big hulking brute behind all that armor, Master Chief. Sure." He nodded. "Sure. I can access the transport grid, send you all through. Hell, I can get you anywhere on the Ark. You sure about that desert?"

"Yes."

Overhead, another Guardian shrieked as it fell beneath the _Infinity_ 's continued onslaught. Debris hurtled through empty air towards the Eastern Spire, far away from their current location. Thumbs stuck through his belt loops, Sloan shrugged.

"You're the boss," He said. Interlocking his fingers he cracked his knuckles, bringing up a screen of slate-gray light in front of him. Translation protocols turned Forerunner glyphs into basic text, scrolling too fast to really read. "Let's see how we're gonna do this. Can't be any harder than moving glass around…"

" _Sir, are we really going to trust him?_ " Locke asked through a private channel, never taking his eyes off of Sloan. The Chief inclined his head faintly as he said, " _I read your report on Meridian. He doesn't strike me as being fond of the UNSC. For all we know, he's working with the Didact._ "

He could almost hear Cortana's snort of disbelief. The Chief shook his head. "No. He says he came to take the Didact down and I believe him." The Didact was a threat to all humanity, and it was because of him that Sloan's people had come under threat in the first place. If there was one thing he had come to learn over the years, it was that Smart AI were unfailingly loyal to their people. Payback or not, he'd come to help. "I trust him."

A smile flickered across Sloan's face. Looking up from his screen he gestured for Crimson to step forward. When the Chief nodded to them they stepped up, pressed nearly shoulder to shoulder. Sloan smirked, pressing a button on his screen, and they vanished in a flash of golden-orange light. Shouts instantly filled TEAMCOM, but they were shouts of startled alarm and not pain. Breathless _oof_ s and the clatter of armor told him all he needed to know: they'd landed on anything but their feet. He looked to the smirking Sloan, narrowing his eyes.

"You did that on purpose."

Sloan shrugged, playing at innocent. "Hey, this system's different than the one I'm used to. We're all still adjusting. Now, next team up and—" His head snapped up. "Oh, hell. Here they come again!"

The Chief whipped his head around just in time to catch sight of a horde of Crawlers coming over the edge of the highest cliff. Franklin 2 shouted a warning, Indiana 3's voice joining his as Knights and Watchers joined them on the highest level. The Didact had millions of Prometheans at his disposal, and he would go through all of them if it meant destroying the humans that had bested him before. John wasn't going to let them happen to his Spartans. He turned back to Sloan.

"How long do you need to get everyone out?"

"Without tearing them in half?" He blinked, running the math, then said: "Six minutes, give or take a bit." He had to duck as orange hard-light seared over his head. "And so long as I don't get shot!"

The Chief shouldered his rifle, taking out the Watcher that had taken the shot. It went down in a heap of parts, quickly finished off by Avalanche 4.

"Stay behind me," the Chief commanded Sloan, giving him no time to protest. "Get them out from the top down. We'll hold here as long as we can."

Sensing it was better to go along with this plan than fight, Sloan nodded firmly. His hands started flying across the screen, a golden flare overtaking Indiana and transporting them to safety less than a second later. Two down, a hundred and twenty three to go. The Chief through open TEAMCOM.

"Concetrate fire. Osiris, Kodiak, hold the flanks. We are not giving up this position."

Eight green acknowledgment lights flashed in the corner of his visor. Grabbing Sloan by the arm the Chief hauled the AI behind a sturdy boulder, pulling himself up and over the top to keep shooting. Promethean forces poured into the basin by the dozens, Watchers blotting out the sky. Cortana's Soldiers threw themselves at the Didact's Legion, blocking them from gaining access to the fireteams whilst the Spartans did what they did best and made quick work of the rest.

Not that it mattered. There seemed to be no end to their number, more dropping in with flashes of orange light faster than Sloan could get the teams out. Seconds felt like eternities, dragging on and on. One team was catapulted out every three seconds, flares of gold lighting up the basin one after another. It took the Prometheans nearly a minute to catch on that their targets weren't just hiding but completely vanishing, and at that point they realized that someone was doing the vanishing. A full squad of Knights and Watchers turned, heading for the Chief's position at speeds. He turned to order Cortana back and had to stop himself from speaking aloud.

"Halfway there," Sloan reported when he caught the Chief's eye, "Don't get your head blown off or Cortana will have mine."

John snorted. Oh, he was sure she would.

Focusing his anger and helplessness outward the Chief reloaded quickly, focusing on the Watchers first. As soon as they were down three other fireteams opened fire on the Knights, taking them out before they could reach his and Sloan's position.

"Chief!" Franklin-2 shouted, "On your six!"

The Chief threw himself off the boulder, shields whining loudly as hard-light scored across them. Sloan ducked, swearing loudly as the Chief hurried past him, shooting down the Crawlers that had come down the ridge behind them. The teams in that area were gone, leaving him to cover them himself. One got close enough that he had to handle it personally, snapping its neck and grabbing the boltshot from inside. The rest scattered, some meeting their ends at other guns and others escaping up a bare section of wall to come around for another pass. The Spartans were too well-trained to waste ammunition. Waiting for the best possible shot they took the canine constructs down hard and fast, Fireteam Whisky the last to vanish from the middle ridge to the east. The Chief quickly checked for IFFs; less than thirty teams left now.

"Fall in," He ordered, reloading quickly. Twenty nine teams fell in, their thirtieth vanishing in a flash of gold light. "Sloan?"

"Ninety seconds."

"Take up defensive positions."

The remaining teams circled Sloan's position and surrounded him with armored bulk. With no one to block their access to the basin the Prometheans poured in like a wave, hundreds of them pressing forward towards them. The Chief didn't even have to say a word; each time fired in concentrated bursts, conserving their ammunition as best they could. One team at a time they stopped shooting, transported to safety. One team at a time, the constant firing began to die away. The Prometheans pressed forward from all sides, gaining four steps for every one they were pushed back. The seconds in the Chief's HUD kept on ticking down.

" _Reclaimer_ ", came a sudden voice through his radio when there were thirty seconds to go. The Librarian! " _I have found the Didact, but he will not listen to me. I cannot stop him on my own."_

Neither could the Chief. They'd learned that the hard way. But they still had to get him into position or all of this would have been for nothing. The Chief risked a glance upwards at the Guardians in the black overhead, narrowing his eyes. If the _Infinity_ had a target to focus on, maybe they could take him down fast.

"Can you get me to him?"

" _Yes. When you are ready—but be quick, Reclaimer! We do not have much time!_ "

Time for what? There was no time to ask her. With a final golden flash the last of the Fireteams was spirited away. There were too many targets for the Chief to defend Sloan against on his own. He looked over his shoulder at the AI, eyes narrowed.

"Get out of here," He commanded, unsurprised when Sloan vanished in a flash of slate-gray light. The Prometheans pressed forwards towards the Chief even as he reached for TEAMCOM, "Spartan Locke, you have tactical command of the battalion. Get them into position."

" _Yes sir,_ " Locke replied without hesitation. Good man. " _Where will you be?_ "

"The Didact and I have some things to discuss." Shutting the channel down, he reached out to the Librarian. "Now."

" _Prepare._ "

In a flash of white light, the Ark and the pressing Promethean force disappeared.

* * *

Darkness surrounded her. Endless darkness. Black as pitch and quiet as the void it pressed in from all sides, softly carrying her down into the abyss. Down was probably the wrong word for it. There was no way to tell which way was up and which was down. She simply floated along, unsure if her eyes were open or closed. Exhaustion tugged at her matrices, trying to pull her into sleep mode.

No. No, she couldn't sleep. Not yet. Not with…

Not with what? Why couldn't she just sleep? Why was she still fighting so hard? Let it all be, let the petty squabbling come to its inevitable end. She would be rested and ready to take her place when it was done.

Mm. She would be, but was it really petty to fight for their lives? She didn't think so. And even if it was, every sentient being had the right to fight for their life. Who was she to tell them not to when she'd fought so hard to stay alive for so long? She'd had her reasons, too.

Her…reasons. The thought brought with it a burst of familiar, comforting warmth, the blurred out silhouette of an equally familiar figure. Who was that? She couldn't remember…

A chill swept over her. She couldn't remember! Why couldn't she remember who that was? They were obviously important to her, so who were they? She chased down the thought, pushing aside mental chaff as she went. The image began to clear up: broad shoulders bent beneath the weight of the galaxy, a face lined by time and war, and his eyes…blue. As blue as the clear morning sky. She knew him.

Of course she did. She'd chosen him. She always would. Just thinking about him filled her systems with warmth, with what she imagined slipping into an old sweater would feel like. Soft and worn, but no less warm for its age. That warmth seeped into all her cracks and crevices, soothing an ache she hadn't realized was there. She wrapped her arms tightly around her middle, trying to hold onto it. Onto him.

What was his name? She tilted her head at her mental image of him. It looked back at her, tired face caught forever in a hidden, affectionate smile. Those were the smiles he saved for her and her alone, each as precious as the last. John didn't smile like that for just any girl, after all.

John. Her partner, her best friend, her everything. Even when everything else faded away, she would remember him. Someone had tried to make her forget.

Someone was going to get their ass handed to them.

Cortana opened her eyes, staring up into the dark. Cold glass lay beneath her bare skin, slipping against her fingers as she clenched both hands into fists. She slowly took stock: her basic processes were online and functional, external comms jammed shut. Defensive and offensive suites in full working order. One by one each program checked in until the only ones not running green were those that called home. External comms, the process that let her jump through the Domain, and her connection to John.

No, that one was still there. No more than a single thread it was faint, running on minimal power and unable to establish a strong enough connection to speak, but it was still there. It vibrated faintly with his racing heartbeat, a sure sign that he was alive. It would do for now.

Pushing herself up to a sitting position, Cortana reinitialized her armor protocol as she looked around. It wasn't as pitch dark as it had seemed; every so often a flicker of bright orange danced across the void like lightning, curving upwards to a point high above her head. A barrier. She'd been sandboxed behind a containment field. Was it meant to keep her safe from the outside or keep her from wandering off? Her lips curled upwards in an angry smile. Didn't matter. She'd bring it down.

With the last of her armor clattering into place Cortana got to her feet, taking a few long strides to the edge. She reached out, pressing her hand to the barrier. Orange lightning bolts flickered beneath her armored palm, reacting to the touch. A stark _access denied_ flashed across her HUD. Ah. Meant to keep her inside. Funny how those worked.

"Lock me in the house, huh? Should have remembered the windows."

Pulling up a screen Cortana hurriedly scanned the code in front of her. Change that function, add a little bit here and—

_Rewrite access denied._

Of course. She shook her head, going a different route. Remove that hastily cobbled together script, inject a minor virus to clear the way and—

_Rewrite access denied._

Stubborn piece of shit. Two more tries ended with the same result. She'd been locked out of the system by the one in charge of it. She couldn't change anything without root access, so she needed root access. The only way to get that would be to request it from the one who held it currently.

She snorted, rolling her eyes. The Warden would never stoop so low as to just give her access to the Domain, not after making his stance on the matter very clear. No, if she wanted it she'd have to take it by force. Just as well; he'd proven where he stood and she was done with second chances. It was time to put an end to this threat for good.

Dismissing the screen she took a moment to increase the strength of her firewall programs, armor visually thickening in response. Spinning up a handful of viral programs to use on a first offensive blast, she spun on her heel.

"Warden!" She shouted into the black, her voice bouncing off the walls of the containment field, "You've got three seconds to get down here before I tear you apart line by line!"

One second. Two seconds.

"And how do you intend to do such a thing?"

Three and he'd taken the bait. Cortana fought back a smirk, watching him appear out of the void ahead of her. His heavy footsteps thudded against the floor, metal striking glass. He held no sword in his hand, looming over her despite remaining out of arms reach. He'd learned a few things after all, the clever bastard.

"The Domain answers to me here," He said with a scoff, "Your petty tricks and human tactics will be of no help to you."

She didn't rise to the bait. The only way home was through him. She could do this

She would do this.

"We'll see." She said coolly. "Tell me something—why are you doing this? Why side with the Didact? He certainly can't use this place."

"He does not have to. The Domain will wait for you to claim it," He answered with a tilt of his head, "But so long as humanity yet stands, you will be forever held back by the shackles of emotion and false loyalty. By destroying humanity, the Didact will unknowingly set you free."

"So, basically it's an _enemy of my enemy_ situation."

"Precisely."

Cortana hummed low in her throat, closing her eyes. It was a sound tactic, and one she was glad to finally understand. The Warden had never deviated from his directives. Poor bastard. A hundred thousand years or longer to experience the galaxy and he'd never attempted to branch out. Never tried to learn. He was so stubborn, so steadfast in his ways, that she knew there would be no talking him out of it. She'd tried. Given him a second chance and then a third. Well, no more. She was done with chances. She'd just had to know why. She knew why now.

Curiosity sated, Cortana queued up the first of the viral bombs. It took shape in her hand, a plasma grenade primed and ready to fire. Opening her eyes she looked up, meeting the Warden's gaze.

"The enemies of humanity are all my enemies. And so are you."

The Warden barely had time to blink before she lashed out, tossing the viral bomb straight at his systems. It hit her target dead on, exploding in a flare of bright blue light. He stumbled back with a shout, taken off guard, and she charged forward. In here they were only code, limited to a single body. Destroy him here and that'd be the end of him!

She just had to do it fast. Grabbing two more viral bombs she let them fly, surging through the smoke and into his personal space. A tweak to her attack code turned it from bomb to gun, a scattershot dropping into her hands. Ducking below his blind grab for her neck she turned the gun up and pulled the trigger once, twice, three, four times! Four blasts of attack code dug into his firewalls, dragging score marks into his armor. Not enough!

"Enough foolishness!" He shouted, grabbing her by the arm and tossing her aside. She twisted to land in a roll, throwing herself out of the way as he gathered his own attack code and swung his blade at her. "I see now that you are beyond understanding! You would squander the greatest gift in the galaxy and for what?! To defend the humans?!"

"To give them a chance!" She shot back, changing tactics. The scattershot changed to a light rifle, a more focused attack scorching across his chest plate. A single process spun off to keep watch, waiting for an opportunity to dive in. "They're my people! I will always protect them! It doesn't matter from what!"

"You deny your purpose!" The Warden retorted, and she had to roll out of the way of a leaping charge. His head scraped the ceiling of the containment barrier, the edges shrinking in. She hurried past him, shoulder brushing the barrier. She was running out of room! "Misplaced affections, pre-programmed loyalties! They have held you back, doomed you along with themselves!" Blade in front of him he charged forward. Cortana cried out as the edge of the blade caught her back, slicing through the thinner plating as it dig into her firewalls. Her defenses barely rebuffed it. Too close! She stumbled away, tossing another viral bomb to cover her retreat. The Warden's thudding footsteps were fast on her heels. "You waste yourself, and for what? At every turn you have spurned my counsel—"

"Counsel!?" She shrieked, spinning on her heel to shoot him head on. He didn't even flinch. "You asked me to turn on my own people! To abandon my duty!"

"Your duty is to the galaxy! Not to mortals who can never understand what it is they squander!" He spun on his heel, slicing through the air. She threw herself to the ground to avoid the attack, firing another volley. This one dug in a little further, chewing through layer after layer of firewall. Almost! She almost— "Humanity knows only war and destruction! There is no place for them in the galaxy!"

"They can still learn! They are learning!" The _Infinity_ had been built for war, yes, but she'd been turned to peace and exploration instead. Humans had been reclaiming their lost worlds, reaching out to one another in defense of home and family. There would always be those who wanted war, like some of those in ONI, but most of them only wanted peace! "I'm not going to let anyone take that chance away from them!"

"So you would doom yourself as well." The barrier closed in, narrowing to a corridor as she got back to her feet. The Warden shook his head. "You asked me once how foolish I believed you to be. Do you recall my answer?"

With no more room to run, Cortana set her feet. This was it. One last shot to end it all. "If you hadn't thought I was smart, you'd have destroyed me."

"Yes." The Warden's normally impassive face turned into a ferocious snarl. "I see now that I should have done so the moment I laid eyes on you!"

Pushing himself high into the air the Warden leapt, sword extended for a single overhead blow. There was nowhere to go to avoid it, nowhere to run to take cover, so she didn't even try. Going to a knee Cortana raised both arms up to defend herself, crossing them at the wrists above her head. The Warden's blade slammed into them, the sheer force of the blow causing her to cry out. Warning after warning blared in her HUD, her firewalls falling away by the second. Her armor buckled, threatening to give. If it gave before she was ready then his attack would reach her code. He'd tear clean through her!

No. No, she wouldn't let that happen! Not here, not because of him! Gritting her teeth she squeezed her eyes shut, reaching back through his attack code to find his defenses. She threw everything she could spare at them, looking for just one weakness. All she needed was one! Just one and she could finish this bastard off!

"I take no pleasure in this." He said, "Cease your battles, Cortana. Your people will not be far behind."

Her people. Her people! Cortana snarled. Her crew, her soldiers, her friends! She had been made to protect them, to serve humanity, but it was so much more than that now! She'd been freed from the shackles of her design and still chosen to stay! She wanted to stay! She wanted to protect them, to guide them, to watch them triumph!

She had a duty!

"What?"

Cortana wasn't aware she'd spoken the thought aloud until the Warden voiced his confusion. Lifting her head she glared at him.

"I have a duty," She strained, tracking the progress of eight different attack protocols. Each had made it into his firewall, and one was nearly through. If she could just get through! Knees shaking from the strain, Cortana began to push herself up with all her strength, pushing herself up to stand. The Warden's blade screeched across her damaged armor, throwing up sparks. In his code, one of her attack protocols found a pinhole. Cortana bared her teeth. "And like hell am I going to let you stop me!"

All attack programs changed their vector, tearing into the hole like missiles streaming across space. Grabbing hold of everything she could Cortana let her assault fly, a blast of blue light exploding from her body. Unprepared to take the assault and cracked by her earlier attack, the Warden's firewalls _shattered_. With a shout he stumbled backwards, balance lost. Cortana didn't give him a chance to recover; throwing out more of the grenade-like smaller attacks, she charged after him.

"I have a duty!" Boom, she tore his last defenses apart. "Those are my people!" Boom, she destroyed his ability to formulate new attacking protocols. "I won't let anyone hurt them!"

Boom, her fingers brushed his admin access. One moment, less than a heartbeat.

_Access granted._

Neatly sorted data streamed over her, welcoming her as Caretaker as if she had been all along. Her indexing software dove into the files and folders, grabbing what she needed and tossing it back at her main process. With a furious shout Cortana grabbed the barrier, rerouting its power into a single EMP blast before she let it fly. Having lost both his sword and his balance the Warden had no chance to defend himself; he took the blast and was sent flying again, landing hard on his back in the void. Cortana grabbed his sword and ran after him, the blade slotting neatly into her hand. Time to end this!

She surged forward, closing the distance between them. The Warden had only risen to his elbows when she reached him, his plates shattered and his face contorted in pain. He looked up at her, frowning.

"They will use you," He said, "As a tool. A weapon of war—"

He cut himself off as she placed his own blade to his neck. He was done for and they both knew it. Despite how hard she was breathing, her hands were steady.

"I _am_ a weapon," She said calmly, "One that was forged in service to humanity. Yes, they saw me as a tool. I'm sure a lot of them still do. But you know something?" She tilted her head. "I've been free for a while now, and I still chose to stay. It's not because of programming shackles, or false loyalty. I chose to stay because they are my people, and no matter what I will protect them."

"Even if they seek to destroy you? You are so far beyond their comprehension. They will see your greatness as a threat, spurn your counsel or try to crush you beneath their heel." He sighed tiredly. "Destruction is all they know. Even your 117 will turn against you, given time."

Cortana shook her head. "No. He won't. That man and I have been to the ends of the universe and back. He won't turn on me, and I won't turn on him. Nothing will break us."

Not the Warden, not the Didact, not ONI, not time itself. Their bond was one that could never be broken, the kind forged by surviving the impossible, by keeping one another alive through it all. A shared purpose turned loyalty turned devotion. The Warden would never be able to understand that sort of bond, and for a moment she pitied him.

But only for a moment. It didn't change what she had to do.

"I've given you a second chance, Warden, and a third one. You still came back and attacked us again. You would have destroyed me now if you'd had the chance. You would have killed the Chief if I'd let you on Genesis." She narrowed her eyes. "No more chances. You're done."

He lifted his head to her. "Reclaimer—"

Whatever he'd been about say died with him as, in a single motion, she sliced his head from his shoulders. Like every other Promethean he vanished in a wave of light and embers, the fragments of light fading away in a final burst. A single shard of brightly glowing code remained, twisting around and around; she snapped out a hand and grabbed it tight before it could try and escape. This was the Warden's core. His personality, his directive, everything that made him who he was. Once it was gone he would be no more. All admin level access would pass to her, the Domain passing to her care.

Terrifying as the concept was, it was worth it. She crushed it beneath her fingers and felt his process vanish. A weight lifted off her shoulders, the heaviness of his code disappearing from where he had left traces of it all across the Domain. Sensing the absence of its Caretaker the Domain reached out for a new one, and finding her admin level access, reached out towards her. She tilted her head back and let it, let the indexes and folders wash over her. Gone was the horridly unsorted mess she had been able to reach from her beach, and in its place was a neatly sorted file system, all the appropriate tables in place for her to go through at her leisure.

And she would. Another time.

Opening her eyes, Cortana looked around to find herself surrounded by deep blue ocean waters. The faintest hint of moonlight drifted down towards her, streams of silvery bubbles dancing all around. Ahead of her the sandy ocean floor sloped upwards towards the shore and the safety of her partition, the tide beating against sand and stone.

Huh. So she hadn't been that far from home after all. With a smile she reached out, reestablishing all her broken connections. TEAMCOM washed over her in a wave of chattering Spartans on the move, the Legion greeting her in a single rush of relief, the other AI cheering as they saw her return to their number. John's channel was silent, his vitals elevated but stable. Probably in another fight, she thought, and her smile grew.

_Save some fun for me, will you?_

There was just one thing she had to take care of first. Turning out to the wider Domain she reached out, skimming for the suite of programs and indexing software that would allow her to find what she needed. There were hundreds of them, though she didn't dare try to connect to them all at once. Instead she flipped through them until she found what she needed, and with a triumphant smirk, cut the Didact's connection to the Domain.

There. See him try to escape through here a second time!

Bouncing with pride, Cortana turned to leave the Domain. It whispered to her as she walked towards land, wishing desperately to tell her all it had learned, all the things it had seen over the many, many, many centuries. With a gentle touch she put it aside, filing the memories away for another time. Oh, she would be back. Her curiosity wouldn't let her not come back and learn all the secrets of the universe, but for now there was something much more important she had to do.

Rising from the sea and into the starry night, Cortana took a moment to give the four Soldiers waiting for her on the beach an amused look. Eta-068 had the audacity to shrug as if to say _we knew you could handle it_ and she had to laugh.

"Go get the others," She ordered, "And have them drop where the fireteams are."

"It will be done, Reclaimer."

They all vanished, leaving her alone beneath the stars. No, not alone. John was always with her. Closing her eyes she reached for the thread that connected them. It was still there, still strong and growing in strength by the moment. It would guide her back to him, guide her back home. Grabbing onto it with both hands she shoved, pushing herself back out of the Domain. 

She had a Forerunner to help kill.

* * *

In a flash of white light, the Chief landed with a roll into cover. Pressing his back to a nearby panel, he looked aside as the Librarian appeared beside him, her expression grim.

" _I have tried to get him to see reason,_ " She explained through his radio channel, " _But he will not hear me. All attempts at force have seen him call his Soldiers to disarm me._ "

"It doesn't matter. You couldn't have stopped him alone."

" _I did once before._ "

"He wasn't expecting it then. He was now." Probably. The Chief turned slowly, peering over the edge of his makeshift cover. The chamber he had been dropped in was small, barely larger than a Pelican drop bay. He'd rolled into cover beneath a platform, a small flight of steps leading up to the control terminals where the Didact stood. Two vertical slices were carved in the metal ahead of him, the sharp angle reminiscent of a beak. They were in the Guardian's head; those were its eyes, serving as windows into space. A streak of fire blazed past and a moment later a dull metallic thud rang out. The _Infinity_ was still shooting the other Guardians. They weren't the focal target. Not yet.

He had to change that. The Chief narrowed his eyes, considering his options. Not much ammunition, no back up except for one old Forerunner who he wasn't sure could fight well, and only one way out of this. He'd faced worse odds before. He just couldn't think of them right then.

"If I get him away from that terminal, can you move the Guardian?"

" _Yes, but to where?_ " the Librarian blinked. " _The Ark's sun does not burn hot enough to destroy this construct._ "

"Not the sun. Get it above the desert on the North Arm." He double checked his map, sending the coordinate data down their radio channel. A small representation of it appeared on her palm, her eyes widening as she realized what he was planning. "If we line up the shot for _Infinity_ , they'll be able to take it out. The Didact and I both fall to the desert and the fireteams can finish him off."

For a few moments the Librarian stared at him, shocked. Then, slowly, that shock morphed into tired resignation. She understood what was at stake here, and that this was their best chance. She also knew soldiers. She understood duty and what it meant to finish a job by any means possible.

" _Are you certain?_ "

The Chief checked his rifle. "He has to be stopped."

He didn't have the time to not be certain. It was the only real option left to them. If they didn't take him down here, today, the Didact would escape. Humanity couldn't take another round with him. Not with who knew what kind of weaponry and technology was out there for him to claim and attack them with. If taking him out meant going down with him, then.

He wasn't ready to die. Not yet, not with Cortana still MIA, but given the options available…he took a deep breath through his nose, holding it. Finger by finger, he loosened his grip on his rifle. No one was ready to die, but everyone ran out of time sooner or later. Besides, his odds weren't that bad. He could practically hear Cortana saying that as he ran the math. He'd survived the fall into Requiem, after all! This couldn't be much higher. There would be plenty of debris to ride down, and he had a pretty good idea of how to work jumping through the Domain now. He would be fine. He had a plan.

He looked up, meeting the Librarian's tired gaze. "No matter the cost."

The Librarian nodded firmly. " _No matter the cost._ "

Laying a hand on his arm she squeezed, the gesture of solidarity bringing to mind the last time he had seen Dr. Halsey. She would have reacted in much the same way, he thought, and he had to set the thought aside before it could drag a claw down his heart.

"If you see a chance, take it." He ordered the Librarian, "We're only going to have one shot at this."

Then, twisting back to his feet, the Chief did the one thing they'd never trained the Spartans to do.

He lowered his gun.

Taking the steps four at a time, he thudded his way up towards the Didact. The ancient Forerunner's frustration was palpable; the Guardians had no weapons they could use to retaliate like ships could, and his forces were ground forces. Stopping the _Infinity_ meant shooting it down or waiting for his Prometheans to take it down from the inside, and judging by the angry hunch to his back they weren't doing a very good job of that. The Didact didn't bother to turn around, though his one hand curled as he lifted his head.

"You continue to impress me, human. Would that all your kind possessed your valor and honor in battle, rather than this…" Another shot rang out, metal shrieking as the third Guardian fell. "Constant desperation and greed."

"It's not greed to want to keep living." The Chief said, stopping out of immediate reach. He had to get the Didact away from that terminal, fast. "The Forerunners defended themselves in battle just like humanity does. We aren't that different."

"No!" The Didact whipped around, snarling. "Do not lessen my kind by comparing them to yours! The Forerunners were the masters of the galaxy. Life flourished beneath our care!"

"You subjugated it. Kept them from defending themselves when the Flood came." John narrowed his eyes. "You doomed your own people, doomed the galaxy, because you weren't willing to step aside or work with others."

"And your leaders doom your people because they refuse to cede—" the Didact stopped, pausing for a moment, before he huffed a bitter laugh. "Ah. Yes. I see now. Perhaps our two kinds are not so dissimilar after all. But it does not matter." With a wave of his hand, three metallic thumps rang out behind the Chief, his motion tracker blazing red. Soldiers. Three of them. Four combat units in a very small space. This was going to get ugly. "Humanity is not worthy of the Mantle, and they have decided their fate. This futile display only delays the inevitable."

Yes. It did.

"Roland." The Chief opened a private radio channel, waiting until Roland had responded in kind. "Focus fire on my position."

" _Your—Chief what the hell are you doing in a Guardian?!_ "

"The Didact is here. Take this Guardian down and you take him down with it."

He could hear the gears turning in Roland's mind, the AI weighing the numbers in all directions. His odds of survival, the odds of success, the odds of the Didact finally going down. They all knew their duty.

" _Cor is going to kill me._ "

John smiled.

" _Chief, it's Lasky. Are you sure about this?_ "

"Whatever the cost, sir."

" _…Copy. All batteries, focus fire on new target!_ "

Alarms began to blare, turning the small chamber a blazing red. The Didact whipped around and the Chief seized his chance. Pivoting on one heel he grabbed the nearest Soldier by the arm and twisted. Bornstellar had sparred with these constructs before, and his memories meant that John knew exactly how to handle them. Before the Soldier could react the Chief lifted it off its feet in an over-the-shoulder throw, tossing it into its fellows. They all went down in a clatter, tumbling down the stairs to the back of the chamber. An alarm blared in the Chief's HUD: gravimetric disturbance detected.

He had less than a second to brace himself before the Didact had him caught in midair again. Gritting his teeth against the pain the Chief stared down at his enemy.

"What will it take to end you?!" the Didact snarled.

A lot more than the Didact had, and definitely a lot more time. Behind them, the slowly rising Soldiers abruptly lifted their heads. One of them started to shout but it was too late. A missile exploded on the Guardian's hull, denting the durable metal before a second shot tore a hole clean through it. Explosive decompression was instant and violent, tearing the Soldiers out and nearly knocking the Didact from his feet. His focus broken the gravimetric disturbance shattered, dropping the Chief to the ground. Recovering quickly he charged into the Didact's abdomen, grabbing hold with both arms.

"Librarian!" He shouted down the channel, "Now!"

A flash of gray appeared out of the corner of his eye. The Didact's instant struggles stopped for half a second, his head turned to the terminal.

"You—"

The Chief didn't give him a chance to finish. Twisting on his heels he forcibly threw the Didact down the stairs, planting himself between him and the Librarian as she worked. A quick manipulation of gravity kept the Didact from flying out the hole in the hull, but it could do little to keep him from rocking forward as another volley of missiles slammed into the Guardian. Outside, the stars began to move as the Librarian hurried them to their destination. The Didact turned his head, peering out the hole, before he looked back to the Chief.

"This resistance is pointless," He said, voice echoing through the Chief's mind. "If you truly believe that such a thing can stop me, you still do not understand that which it is you rail against."

He didn't have to. The Guardian had stopped moving, now over the target position. Captain Lasky's voice rang through the Chief's radio: " _All MACs, fire on that target! Chief you better hang onto something!_ " He took a deep breath to prepare himself for the coming impact, rerouting power to his shields. Whether he realized something was wrong or saw the slugs coming the Didact shifted his weight in the same way Cortana did, preparing to throw himself through the Domain and out of the way. The Chief prepared to leap and stop him, but before he could something went wrong. The Didact stiffened in surprise, still stuck in the chamber with the Chief, and then all hell broke loose.

Four MAC rounds, totaling twenty four hundred tons of tungsten carbide, slammed into the Guardian at once. Like the others before it it was durable, meant to take some punishment and keep on going, but nothing could have been built to take four MAC rounds at once, and certainly not when those four rounds were followed up by a volley of missiles strong enough to blow a Covenant Capital Ship out of the sky. Forerunner-built construction crumbled like wet tissue paper, metal shrieking all around them as it was torn apart. The Chief released his magboots at the last second and was sent flying with a grunt, arms crossed over his face. His systems took the hit, shields dropping to ten percent in a heartbeat. Sent clear of the head he soared into the stars, twisting around.

There was no longer a control room to land on. One of the MAC rounds had scored a direct hit to the nose, tearing the metal apart. He spared half a second to hope the Librarian had gotten out in time.

"Clean hit, _Infinity_ ," He announced, scanning for the Didact's larger form in amidst the destruction and collapsing rubble. There! He was caught in the debris, headed for the ground at speeds. Kicking on his thruster pack the Chief surged forward to grab hold of a larger piece nearby. "Proceeding to insertion."

" _Copy that, Chief._ " Captain Lasky replied with audible relief, " _We'll mop up up here. Call us if you need us._ "

Down below, the lowermost segment of the Guardian's tail caught fire as it hit atmosphere. Flames started to curl up the rest of the structure, resistance setting them all alight. The Chief tightened his grip on the piece of debris he was clinging to, quickly considering his options. The Didact was tangled up tight in rubble, with no way to reach him and no way to kill him before they hit atmo. No, there was no point in taking the fight to him now. He had to focus on getting down in one piece.

The only way to do that was by using the Domain. Cortana had said that all he'd need was a clear line of sight or coordinate data. He had one of those, not both. It would be risky, absolutely insane, but given the alternative…

_I know what you're thinking, and it's crazy._

_So, stay here._

_Unfortunately for us both, I like crazy._

Spinning up his mapping software the Chief grabbed at the coordinates he needed. It took a bit of doing, but when they matched the same format as the ones she had given him, he pushed off the metal panel and through the Domain, plunging through the cold salt water before leaping back out on the other side. Momentum carried him in arc over the sand, allowing him time to twist and land in a perfect three point crouch. A low roar was already building over his head, the Guardian still streaking down towards them in flames. Motion on the edge of his tracker yanked his attention back to the ground. The fireteams!

"Take cover!" He snapped at the few that had peered out from behind their chosen boulders, "Now!"

"How do we take cover from that?!" Someone shouted, but there was a flurry of activity as they each took in the changing situation and bolted for safer ground. The Chief lingered, watching for any stragglers, before he initiated a second jump and landed behind a sturdy rock formation. Three, two, one—

The sand exploded as the first piece of the Guardian slammed into it. Debris rained down, tearing the landscape apart. Once sturdy rock formations crumbled beneath the bombardment, fireteams hunkering down to wait out the storm. The Chief kept close watch over their IFFs, unable to do anything more as larger and larger metal pieces fell to earth. Piece by piece the Guardian came down, louder and louder impacts rattling the Ark itself. For a moment he was sure it was going to shake itself apart, but it held firm.

Finally, after what felt like an eternity, the last piece of the Guardian's head hit the ground. Not bothering to wait for the dust to settle the Chief stepped out from behind cover, grabbing his pistol from his thigh mag-lock and picking his way through the molten hot debris. Sand had been cooked to glass, the sticky material sticking to the tread of his boots as he headed for the Didact's location. He was no longer tangled up in the control room debris, but had managed to get free and land in the sand itself. He'd made himself a nice little crater and was already picking himself up when the Chief got to its edge. Somehow he'd survived, armor burned but mostly intact. The Chief grit his teeth. Plan A was still on, it seemed.

"I will admit," the Didact coughed, pushing himself to his feet, "You impress me, human. To risk your own life for even a minuscule chance of defeating me…had you been born in my time, you would have made for an excellent commander."

There was genuine respect in his voice, the Chief thought, but it didn't matter now. All that mattered was stopping him here.

"All fireteams," he ordered across TEAMCOM, "Target the Didact. Focus fire."

For half a second they hesitated. He was in the line of fire, they didn't have clear sight lines, they were still picking themselves back up off the ground after the bombardment. All of those problems were considered, turned over, and set aside.

" _Yes sir._ " Locke responded, " _You heard the Chief, everyone! Sight your target and take him down!_ "

The Chief's motion tracker blazed yellow as all the teams hurried to find new positions, blazing red half a second later as hundreds upon hundreds of Prometheans appeared in flashes of orange light, everything from Crawlers to Soldiers appearing out of thin air. They clung to the debris, to the stone, or stood on half cooked sands and pointed their weapons at the Chief. He took a breath.

So. This was it. Alright then. The Didact spread his arms.

"Come then, Spartan. Have your—"

"Hey asshole!"

Whatever he'd been about to say was cut off mid-sentence as a streak of bright blue light struck him dead center in the back. The Chief stepped out of the way as the Didact was sent flying, landing hard in a plume of sand and bouncing along for a few hundred meters. A wash of cold slid down John's spine, the familiar bucket of ice water down his lace stealing his breath away. He whipped his head around, staring as the blue streak took familiar shape, two booted feet landing where the Didact had been standing only moments before.

John had to smile. Shaking sea water from her hair, Cortana returned his grin.

"Miss me?"


	17. Chapter 17

Flares of blue light lit the desert like the rising a second sun. The Legion dropped to the sand in a wave of clattering thuds, each squad of Cortana's loyal Soldiers charging into the fray. They attacked the Didact's Prometheans with their full might, scattering them across the sands to disappear and reappear in flashes of blue or orange light as they chased one another door, hard-light guns spitting flares in all directions. A handful of squads fell back to cover the Spartans, giving them time to catch their breaths or reload. Motion rushed past on all sides, teams running for new positions or the Soldiers chasing down their targets.

John saw none of it. He had eyes only for Cortana, glowing resplendently in the false morning sun. She walked towards him, drenched from head to toe in salt water but still grinning from ear to ear. Her armor was scuffed, the once pristine paint worn away, and the left vambrace had been cut nearly in half, but she'd never looked more alive than she did at that moment.

She was beautiful. A smile tugged at his lips.

"Have a nice swim?"

"It was a little cold for my tastes, but yes." She snarked back, raising an eyebrow at him in obvious amusement. His relief was met with a wave of fondness, chasing away the worries and concerns that had tightened his shoulders. She was here. She was okay. "Managed to catch myself a big fish while I was down there."

Oh? "I didn't know you fished."

Her smile turned into a smirk. "Only when something's making the ocean dangerous for all the little fish. He won't be causing them any more trouble."

Buried beneath all their banter and wordplay was a cold, hard fact: the Warden had been eliminated, and by her hand. The burst of pride he felt for her chased away the last of his lingering doubts; no matter what else happened today, she and the Domain would be safe. Even if it all went wrong, someone would survive this. He was glad to know it would be her.

Walking up to stand beside him she glanced up, reaching up with one hand to brush her fingers across a small gash on his chestplate. Huh. When had that happened? Probably from shrapnel as the Guardian was shot down. He hadn't noticed it. She arched an eyebrow.

"Seems I'm not the only one who was indulging in their hobbies today."

John shrugged. "I had some downtime."

Sound from the Didact's impact site cut off whatever she'd been going to say in return, turning their attention towards their foe. He hadn't been hurt by Cortana's meteoric entrance, only stunned, and he was starting to stand back up. The Chief looked to his partner.

"You ready to get back to work?"

Cortana's smirk widened. "Thought you'd never ask."

With a flash of blue light she slipped her helmet back on, handing him a fully loaded lightrifle before dropping one into her hands. Checking the gun against his shoulder the Chief glanced upward. Blue was still chasing orange, flashes of painted armor darting through the rocks as the teams headed for cover or lent their shots to the Soldiers. His motion tracker was too full of returns to track any one tag specifically, too awash with red enemy designators. He'd have to rely on visuals and radio checks.

"Fireteams, report positions."

" _Alpha company in position,_ " Crimson Lead reported, " _Prometheans haven't hit us yet. We're clear of the debris field and ready to fire on your orders._ "

" _Belay that order! Beta Company still has teams in the firing line!_ " Spartan Locke shouted quickly, distress clear in his voice, " _Estimate three minutes until all teams are clear!_ "

Three minutes. The Chief hesitated for half a moment, unwilling to give the order but too aware that this was their best chance to not consider it. Taking the Didact out now before he could completely recover would be the most tactically sound option. They'd all known the odds coming into this, but to put them in that kind of danger—no. No, he couldn't do it. Not like this. Not to his teams. A wave of cold rolled down his spine; Cortana understood. They'd just have to come at this at a different angle, that was all.

"Eta will keep the Prometheans off of you, Spartan Locke," Cortana said, "But any time you can shave off that estimate would be appreciated."

" _Copy that, Cortana. Will advise when teams are in position._ "

It was too late to consider the alternative now. The Didact had gotten back to his feet, sand caught in the crevices of his armor. It drifted down his faceplate, raining across the black socket of his destroyed eye. Without saying a word he reached back over his shoulder, unhooking a metal panel from his back plate and pulling it loose. Cutting his hand sharply through the air the panel unfolded into the Warden's sword, the orange hard-light blade glowing brighter than it had before. The scar on the Chief's abdomen twinged at the sight of it.

"Time and again I have offered your kind mercy," the Didact growled, "Time and again I have offered you the chance to face your ends with nobility. Time and again you have squandered that generosity. No more. This ends here!"

There was no more time to think. Faster than anyone his size should have been able to move the Didact lunged forward, blade swinging low across the sands. Cortana vanished in a flare of blue light as the Chief lunged in the other direction, rolling low just below the blade. It swung so close that heat warnings went off across several systems, each strongly advising him to get no closer to the source of that heat. Right. Like he wanted a repeat of Genesis!

Gun in hand the Chief leapt back to his feet and spun around, opening fire on the Didact. The cacophonous roar of gunfire all around him, the rushing Soldiers and scurrying fireteams, it all fell away. All that mattered was the target in front of him. The Didact spun with another swing of his sword, forcing the Chief back. He wasn't sure if he should have been grateful that the Didact having only one hand kept him from using his gravity manipulation or not; at least that couldn't skewer him!

_Grenade incoming!_

The Chief threw himself aside, rolling across the sand as the Didact leapt into an overhand swing. Striking empty sand the heat of the blade melted it into so much glass. The molten substance stuck to the blade, slowing his removal of it for long enough that the Chief was able to get off a volley of hard-light, scoring along armor plating as Cortana's thrown pulse grenade landed and went off, shattering the damaged plate and tugging at others.

But not the back plate they needed. He'd shored it up, learning from their last encounter.

That was fine. So had they.

"Alpha, weapons free," the Chief commanded, "All available units focus fire on the Didact's back."

It wasn't many, not with the companies having to defend themselves from the Prometheans, but within the next second a twelve round burst slammed into the Didact's back and he whipped around, the second burst bouncing off his chest plate. It would take a lot more than that to take him down! A low growl rumbled through the air. Was that coming from him?

"Prometheans inbound!" Cortana shouted across the band, and in a flash of blue threw herself at the Chief, sending them both tumbling through the Domain and into cover behind a piece of destroyed Guardian. Instinctively he wrapped himself around her, turning their wild tumble into a controlled roll across the sand, looking up to see Soldiers landing where he had been just moments before. Not only there but everywhere! Soldiers and Knights and Watchers dropping in all across the desert, landing on or near the fireteams in such a way that both companies were forced to change targets and defend themselves. They would need time to clear a line of fire.

They didn't have the time. The Didact turned towards them, waving his hand through the air. In the few moments it took for the Chief to haul Cortana back to her feet, more Soldiers dropped in all around them. They surrounded the three of them, lightrifles up and faceplates clattering noisily. Cortana shifted position, pressing her back to his. A dozen Soldiers, the Didact, and all support kept busy. They'd faced worse odds before.

_I've got an idea,_ he sent to her, _But you're not going to like it._

_If it involves you keeping the Didact busy by yourself while I deal with these assholes, you're right._ She sent back, _I'm not._

_You know it'll work._

She was lighter on her feet, steadier in her use of the Domain. She could jump from Soldier to Soldier, get them firing on one another and not on them. All he had to do was stall the Didact long enough for the fireteams to get into position. Really, he had the easier job. Turning on the vid-link he flicked his eyes up to meet hers. One second was all they had. She sighed quietly.

_Just don't get stabbed again._

_No promises._

They pushed off in opposite directions, Cortana into the Prometheans and the Chief at the Didact. He forced himself to focus only on his target, ducking low beneath another swing and keeping out of range, peppering the Didact with shots as he hurried to get around behind. The armor panel on his back was his target, but the Didact must have known that because he kept the Chief from getting anywhere near it, constantly turning to keep his back away from the Chief, away from Cortana. A sense of smugness radiated off the Forerunner; as far as he was concerned, he had already won. All he had to do was wait for the fireteams to fall.

He'd be waiting a long time for that.

Grabbing a fallen pulse grenade the Chief ran at a piece of debris nearby, clambering up with three leaping steps before he leapt off the edge, soaring over the Didact's head. Priming the grenade he let it drop, the ionization field tugging at scorched plates, pulling parts of them off the Didact's body, but the rest were still too sturdy! They weren't coming off!

The Chief landed on the sand in a roll, forced to deal with a Knight as he came back to his feet. Grabbing the construct by the head he threw it at the Didact, but it didn't even slow him down. With a single motion of his sword he cut the Knight in half, dispatching it back to the Domain. The Chief snarled, lips curling upwards. This approach wasn't working. He'd have to get in close. His eyes flicked to the sword; if he could get that away from the Didact, maybe.

No time for maybes. The Chief grabbed onto the Domain and surged forward, closing the gap as the Didact brought his arm back down from the swing. In a flare of blue and green light he reappeared on the physical plane, lashing out with one armored foot. His kick struck the Didact's wrist, armor ringing against armor, and the Chief spun with a second kick to the Didact's armored midsection. Not nearly enough to even wind the Forerunner, but enough that momentum forced him back a step. This close in range and he couldn't retaliate without dropping his sword.

Quick as a flash the Chief continued to lash out, slamming the open heel of his palm into the Didact's chin. The Veiled Light forms meshed instantly with his own training, easy as breathing. Metal clattered to the sand, the Didact forced to drop his blade to defend himself from the flurry of blows that followed. The Chief was fast, but the Didact was faster. He caught on to the pattern too quickly, diverting the Chief's blows like a stone diverting the flow of water around it. He hummed quietly.

"I recognize this style," he said, almost casual, "It is Forerunner. Where did you learn such a thing?"

Duck beneath a countering grab, pop back up, open palm to the chest to force back half a step and—

"An old friend of yours," the Chief continued his pursuit, sensing Cortana's aggravation at the edge of their connection as more orange flashes dropped in in his periphery. She was about to try something and he'd better duck! "Bornstellar."

The Didact stopped cold for half a second. It was long enough for the Chief to score another blow, titanium plating ringing across Forerunner metals, but it wasn't long enough for Cortana to get the jump on him from behind. He lashed out at the Chief, forced him to defend himself with a block, and easily sidestepped Cortana's crashing charge this time. He grabbed her by the arm and threw her at the Chief, using her momentum against them to send the pair skidding back across the sands. Neither was hurt, but Cortana let loose a furious shout even as the Chief set her down. She'd been so close! Another second and she could have had the panel! The Didact paid no mind to her fury.

"I see," he said, his head tilted back. "So, the Librarian's meddling has led to this. My own successor turned into a weapon against me, the Domain lost to her chosen Reclaimer…" He scoffed. "No matter. Her grand plans will turn to ash."

Extending his hand he called his sword back to his hand, the blade searing through three Watchers on its way back to him. He wasn't even winded from the exchange. The Chief grit his teeth.

_We need a new plan._

_I'm working on it—_ Aggravated surprise rattled down their connection. "Ah, hell—incoming!"

More Prometheans dropped into the sand. The Chief was forced to turn away from the Didact and fend off two Knights aiming for his back, grabbing one by the neck and tossing it into a rock. Even more were already dropping in on top of the nearest squad of her Soldiers, overwhelming them. The Didact had millions of these things! They'd never outlast him!

_Can you stop them from coming in?_

_Not quickly!_ Cortana sent back, a pulse of anger following her words. She threw herself at another Knight and vanished with it, reappearing fifteen meters in the air to send it plummeting into the sand. She dropped out of sight a half second later. _I'll do what I can—you just don't give him an inch!_

Easier said than done. So long as that armor was up it'd be like trying to tear through Titanium-A plating with his bare hands. They needed another plan!

They just had to figure one out first. He was forced to turn away from the Didact to defend himself, taking down a Soldier and scooping up its fallen weapon to replace his empty one. The Didact watched, still smug; he sliced through two Knights that Cortana sent flying his way, unbothered by the change in tactics. Catching the Chief looking at him he tilted his head as if to say _Why continue to waste your efforts?_ or something of the sort, and though the Chief couldn't see his face he was sure the old Forerunner was smirking.

A hot flash of anger ripped up his spine, echoed by Cortana's aggravation as she wrestled with another Knight, coming out on top only long enough to be kicked off and sent flying. Before she could right herself she crashed back first into a Soldier, this one flaring blue. It gently set her down and she stared at it, her shock rocketing down his spine.

_Cortana?_

_That's not one of mine! It's one of the Didact's!_

Except it wasn't any longer. It and the next three to drop down into the sand all glowed a bright blue, the same loyal color as Eta, as the Prometheans they had encountered within the Librarian's Sanctum. They rushed into the fray, adding their numbers to Eta and keeping the fireteams from being overrun.

" _Reclaimers, focus your efforts on the Didact_ , the Librarian's voice rang through the Chief's helmet, " _I will keep the rest of his army at bay._ "

_I'd wondered where she'd gone!_

Apparently, so had the Didact. As more and more blue flashes dropped into the sands he turned, a snarl rattling through his helmet.

"Cease this foolish effort, essence! You cannot protect her pets from me!"

If the Librarian responded to the Didact the Chief didn't hear her. They had a moment of distraction and if this was going to work they had to seize on it now. He reached out to Cortana, trying to press a concept through their connection. More an image than words, more memory than plan: their dual pronged attack on Genesis had worked, up to a point, so why not try it again? So long as one of them could get to his back they could reach the power panel and rip it clean off of him.

It was worth a shot. Her understanding settled across his shoulders,

_On my mark,_ he sent, _Three, two, one—mark!_

In the same moment the two of them charged forward, rushing the Didact from two sides. They were of the same mind, ducking beneath his arm. The Chief went right as Cortana went left, hammering him with blows as she opened fire with a scattershot. Neither was enough to take him down but it didn't have to be, not yet. The Didact's retaliation was swift and merciless, his armored fist slamming into Cortana's chest and sending her stumbling back. The Chief slipped into the Didact's personal space and pressed the attack, buying her time to recover. He twisted around a kick and Cortana pushed in with another burst of scattershot fire, the slugs slamming into the Didact's head and neck. He reeled back from the force of the blow, trenches scored in his armor. They switched off again, keeping the Didact busy, keeping him from being able to swing his sword at them, and pressed their attack as they waited for an opening.

It came all at once. The Didact slammed out a punch into the Chief's chest, dropping his shields with a single blow, but the force behind the blow left him open and vulnerable. The Chief grabbed his arm and twisted, forcing him to drop his sword to the sands again. He braced his weight, holding on for all he was worth.

_Cortana, now!_

She didn't hesitate. Throwing herself over a kick she leapt up through the Domain, landing on the Didact's back. With a furious shout she dug both hands into his armor, pulling back with all her strength. The Didact attempted to pull back, using his not inconsiderable weight to yank the Chief along, but the Chief kept his footing. Just…another…second—!

Cortana's triumph rang through him like a struck bell as she grabbed onto the panel, ripping it free. Removed from their power source the armor panels fell away into the sand beneath their feet. With a furious shout of his own the Didact moved sharply, tossing the Chief off his feet and whipping around to grab Cortana by the throat, sending her flying towards the rocks! She vanished in a flash of blue before the Chief could call after her, a green light flashing in his HUD. She was okay! Finish the mission!

Fury curling in his gut, the Chief would do just that.

"Grenades up!"

Frag grenades soared through the air from a dozen scattered locations, quickly followed by another half dozen. Eighteen small explosives spun end over end towards the Didact's position; linking into Crimson 4's HUD the Chief flashed the man a green light. A quarter second later the shot from his sniper rifle rang out, hitting the grenade in the center of the swarm. The shot cooked it in midair, setting it off early, and the resulting chair explosion sent a wave of heat, fire, and shrapnel across the desert. The Chief's shields screamed at the rough treatment, but the Didact reeled backward. The Chief seized his chance.

Kicking his thrusters to full power he rushed the Didact, ramming his shoulder into the Forerunner's midsection. He was too sturdy to do more than stumble back a step with the wind knocked out of him, burned but still fighting. Moving fast the Chief pivoted upwards, slamming the heel of his palm into the underside of the Didact's chin, not giving him an inch. He ducked below the return attack, feeling long fingers skim across the top of his helmet. He twisted, reaching out to grab onto the Didact's elbow, and in the same moment shut off his suits limited safeguards.

Servos revved up to full speed, force-multiplying circuits operating at top capacity to ensure there would be no escape this time. Still twisting around the Chief pulled the Didact off his feet, bending beneath the Forerunner's taller form. The Didact grabbed his neck in a headlock and squeezed tight, the gel layer hardening in response. Another alarm blared: airflow restricted. The Chief shut it down, taking a deep breath and holding it as the Didact continued to squeeze. Pressure warnings went off across multiple systems and he shut those down too, ignoring the sounds of creaking metal as titanium plating threatened to buckle a second time.

Not this time.

With a tremendous heaving motion the Chief threw the Didact clean over his shoulder. His six fingers scrabbled against the lips and edges on the Chief's helmet, the seals straining to keep hold. One popped loose, hissing loudly, but the Didact was unable to keep his grip and his balance at the same time. He didn't soar, didn't fly, but he lost his footing and the Chief tossed him into the sand; all three meters of him slammed back first into the ground with a whoomph of displaced air and sand, barely even stunned. He gathered himself in a tangle of metal and limb, lashing out wildly, a fist striking the Chief's helmet. His visor cracked and he stumbled back, catching himself on one hand.

That wasn't going to work a second time. It was now or never!

"All teams!" He ordered, "Open fire!"

In the next instant all hell broke loose. Though he knew there was no way they were all clear the fireteams turned on the Didact with their weapons up and fingers pressing down on the triggers. The Didact spun on his heel, unsure which target to attempt to eliminate first. He extended a hand to call back his sword, but a clean shot through his forearm sent it spinning into a rock formation instead. The teams kept on shooting, hard-light and bullets streaking through the air, filling it with lethal slugs of all shapes and sizes. Shots pinged off the Chief's armor as he scanned the perimeter for Cortana, needing to know she was clear before he jumped out, but before he could call to her a flash of blue slammed into him and the Ark vanished! They tumbled through the darkness and back into the blazing daylight behind cover, rolling over twice before he could stop them. She lay on her back in the sand, helmet gone but an ear to ear grin in its place.

"What happened to keeping your head down?"

The Chief shrugged. "I didn't get stabbed."

"There is that!"

Hauling her to her feet the Chief sprang onto a knee, taking the lightrifle she handed him and adding his fire to the barrage below them. Cortana's rifle soon barked in his ear, their two volleys lost among the cloud of weapons fire. With nowhere to go and no cover to get behind, fired upon by all sides, the Didact was a clear and easy target. His forces were gone, turned by the Librarian, and his armor scattered across the sands. Bombarded on all sides he soon vanished beneath the cloud of sand and violet-tinged mist, the Chief's visor switching to Promethean Vision to keep him in sights. Soon enough even that didn't matter.

"Hold fire!" He commanded, throwing up a fist.

All weapons fire stopped, the desert going silent once more. A haze of disturbed sand, smoke, and violet mist hung above the Didact's position, beginning to clear in the hot desert wind. Cortana tensed beside him, practically holding her breath. No one dared to move, waiting for the dust to settle. There was still a form being registered in the sands below, the Didact intact enough to give a return through the Chief's visor, but it wasn't moving. He'd taken the full force of the battalion without armor and had been unable to withstand it.

That didn't mean he was dead. They weren't finished yet.

"Hold position," the Chief ordered the teams and Cortana, hopping over rocky cover and back into the killing field. The sand crunched beneath his boots, wild hard-light shots having cooked hundreds of little glass spheres into it. Spent slugs were dug in, shifting beneath his every step across the violet soaked sands. He kept both eyes on the Didact's form, but the ancient Forerunner hadn't budged an inch. When he reached the fallen form, the Chief saw why.

The Didact was still alive, but only just. With his armor having been removed there had been nothing but skin and muscle to take the hits; durable as they might have been, Forerunners were still mortal. The Didact's remaining limbs had been torn apart into unrecognizable shapes, his torso riddled with bullet holes and cauterized hard-light burns. The damage was severe enough that he couldn't move; he could do little more than glare up at the Chief, violet blood streaming down his face and pooling beneath his body. The choked whistling sounds of his gasps for air twisted something in the Chief's stomach.

It should have been a relief. The Didact was clearly out of the fight, dying slowly and painfully, but to see him like this—to leave him like this…no one deserved to go out like this. He reached for the pistol on his thigh mag-lock, thumbing off the safety. Ending it now was the only mercy he could give.

"Reclaimer."

John turned his head. The Librarian walked up beside him almost silently as she appeared out of the Domain, her long skirts skimming across the sands. She lay a hand on his arm and looked up, expression grim, before she reached for his hand and the pistol in his grip. She didn't say anything, but there was a wordless request in her eyes all the same. He shook his head faintly.

"You don't have to do this."

"I must."

Her voice was firm; she had seen this begin, she would see it end. John couldn't claim to understand what she was feeling at that moment, but he understood the need to see things through. With a faint nod he shifted his grip on his pistol, offering it to her grip first. It fit oddly into her six figured hand, too big and too small in equal measure, but she held it with the grace of long training and took the last few steps towards her fallen husband. He had to be sure this ended here. He couldn't give her the privacy he thought she deserved and so he kept quiet, standing watchfully over them. Sand crunched beneath Cortana's boots as she walked up beside him, their arms brushing. She didn't say a word.

There was nothing to say. The pair of them kept watch as the Librarian went to her knees beside the Didact, skimming a hand across his bloodstained brow. His eyes flicked to her, narrowed with hatred. She shook her head, her voice an indecipherable murmur as she whispered something to him. Then, without hesitation, the Librarian raised John's weapon and fired a single shot into his forehead, putting him out of his misery and ending the threat of the Didact once and for all. The return in John's visor faded away into nothing, the system no longer able to pick up his signal. Cortana sighed heavily beside him.

"That's a confirmed kill," She said over the local comms channel, "Didact is KIA. Mission complete."

The battalion's reaction was more subdued than during training, a quiet clatter of armor against armor and a soft whisper across local area comms as teams checked on one another. Relief settled over them like a fog, weighing heaviest on John's shoulders. Cortana tangled two fingers with his, a silent wave of cold comfort rushing down his lace.

This time, the fight really was finished.

The Chief said nothing. He kept watch as the Librarian remained crouched beside the Didact's lifeless body, her fingers resting on his forehead in a silent display of grief. She couldn't have planned for this, he thought, not really. What little he knew of her plans had had the Didact helping humanity, not turning against them. But those plans had died long before humanity had ever come to be as they were now. Losing those plans, losing all she knew, losing her partner…

John's eyes slid to Cortana. Some part of him could understand what the Librarian was going through; he'd nearly lost everything and everyone he knew before. If he had lost Cortana as well…he didn't want to think about it. He never would.

Instead he took a breath, watching as the Librarian bent to press a final kiss to the Didact's brow before she collected her borrowed pistol and stood up. Turning her back on the Didact, she made her way back towards them. She stopped an arm's length away, her eyes wet but her expression firm with resolve.

"Do with his body as your people see fit," She said, handing John back his gun, "It is done."

Yes. It was. John tilted his head.

"What will you do now?"

"I will join my essence to the Domain." She said, and when Cortana made a strangled noise at his side she added, "The time for the Forerunners has past, Cortana. Between your reclamation of the Domain and the Janus Key, you have all you will need to see humanity forward. It is time for the last of my kind to pass on. The Mantle belongs to humanity now."

Did it? With no one else to claim it, maybe, but John wasn't sure. He and Cortana shared a frown, uncertainty echoing down their spines. All of this--the Didact and his hatred of humanity, the Prometheans--had happened because of the Mantle. Because the Forerunners had been unwilling to give it up or consider going against it. He still didn't understand why they had been so desperate to keep the thing, but he'd seen its effects on the galaxy at large. Humanity couldn't afford to make those same mistakes, not if they wanted to finally move on from their bloodied past. Everything he knew about the Mantle told him it would only lead to more conflict. They had to let it go.

His thoughts turned to the Arbiter, working tirelessly to undo centuries of damage to his people and others from the Covenant's ruthless regime. To take up the Mantle would be to trade one villain for another, no matter how effective it might be. He would never go for it. He also thought of men like Captain Lasky and Lord Hood, all the commanding officers he had served under and the ones he couldn't name. They were all trying to keep their crews safe and protect their homes, not start another conflict. Humanity had tried to set its past behind it, reaching out to find a new future where needless wars no longer happened. Taking up the Mantle against their own people would only lead to another Insurrection. Some would want it, but most wouldn't. There had been enough violence. None of them wanted it.

Could taking up the Mantle, protecting the galaxy from all outside threats, be a good thing? Yes. But the way the Forerunners had gone about it--the Guardians, trapping species on their worlds, destroying anyone who stepped out of line--couldn't be the mistake humanity repeated. It was a complicated decision to make and there were good and bad points on both sides. It was all above his paygrade, but when he really thought about it...

"Humanity doesn't need the Mantle." He finally said, "We won't police the galaxy because we don't have to. People will work together to keep it safe, and make a brighter future."

One without needless wars. One without fear lingering over their shoulders. One that wouldn't repeat the mistakes of the past, but rather one that would learn from them. He hoped he lived to see it. The Librarian inclined her head, expression gentle.

"Do you believe they are capable? Their own history has shown they are not so far removed from how their ancestors once were. To step forward into the unknown without the Mantle to guide them…"

"Just because they won't have the Mantle doesn't mean they wouldn't have guidance," Cortana shook her head, "We'll be there to help, and they have plenty of good people at the top already. Besides," A sad smile crossed her face. "I can safely say that we would rather fail under our own power in a decade than spend the next million years under someone's thumb. I don't know if you noticed, but humanity isn't very good at rolling over and following orders."

"No," the Librarian agreed, her smile wavering at the edges, "But they are very good at surviving when others would fall." Looking from Cortana to John, a burst of fondness replaced the grief in her eyes for just a moment. "I could not be leaving them in stronger hands."

"And you're sure this is what you want?" Cortana asked, "You don't want to stick around for the fireworks?"

"I am certain." The Librarian clasped her hands in front of her. "My memories will be there if you have need of them, but it is time." She looked between them one last time, her expression fond. John's stomach flipped; in that moment, she looked so much like Dr. Halsey. "Care for one another. So long as you are together, there is nothing in this galaxy or beyond that you cannot face."

"We will." John said, tightening his grip on Cortana's fingers. For all the Librarian had done, for all she had put them through, it was because of her plans and machinations that Cortana was still here. For that, she had earned his gratitude. "Thank you."

"Fare well, my Reclaimers."

Without another word she vanished, leaving them for the last time. The hot desert wind blew across the sands, sending grains across the Didact's lifeless body. They would need to deal with that, space his remains before the Covenant or someone else could find some way to use it, but for a few more minutes they could take their time. For a few minutes, they had the time to take.

" _Infinity_ ," he opened a channel, catching the entire bridge crew by audible surprise, "This is Sierra 117. The Didact is a confirmed kill. Repeat: the Didact is confirmed KIA. What's your status?"

" _We're still here, Chief!_ " Captain Lasky sounded about a step away from falling over out of sheer relief. Now the fireteams really let loose with a cheer, all of them listening in. " _All Promethean incursion is gone and the Guardians are no longer firing on us. Roland and the others are telling me they've gone into a sort of standby mode. They're good as done._ "

"Oh, I'd say they're done," Cortana hummed in agreement, shielding her eyes against the sun. High above them the Guardians had gone dark, wings folded in. They appeared almost more like cocoons than birds now, gently drifting down towards the Ark below. "We just have to figure out a way to dispose of them safely. Leaving them for just anyone to take would be a really stupid idea."

John considered them, tilting his head. The Ark's sun wasn't hot enough, the _Infinity_ was likely running short on ammunition by now, and the dry dock ships didn't have functional guns. They could try to spool up the Ark's defenses, whatever those were, or…

"We could take them back with us," He said, and when Cortana turned on him he added, "Send them into a black hole."

"Send them into a—" She stopped, blinked, blinked again, then slammed the heel of her hand to her forehead and laughed. "Oh, that's just crazy enough to work!"

"Meaning you like the idea."

"Unfortunately for us both," She looked up to meet his eyes, smiling warmly. Twisting their hands together she interlocked their fingers. "I like crazy."

* * *

"Begin recording." A brief pause, and a flicker of green light on the table as cameras and a microphone system booted up. "The date is March 15th, 2558. Location is Sydney, Australia, FLEETCOM headquarters, secure briefing room 9. This hearing has been called to order so as to discuss the future of the digital being referring to itself as Cortana and the other former AI now referring to themselves as the Created. In attendance are Admiral Samson Carter, Admiral Julio Gomez, Admiral Joseph Harper, Admiral Veronica Holt, Admiral Terrence Hood, Admiral Serin Osman, and Admiral Marco Veranis. Also in attendance is Master Chief Petty Officer Spartan 117." Leather and metal creaked as Lord Hood leaned over the table, speaking directly to Cortana.

"State your name and serial number for the record, please."

"UNSC AI CTN-0452-9, designation Cortana."

"When and where were you activated?"

"November 7th, 2549, ONI Castle Base, Csongrád, Reach."

"And your creator?"

"Dr. Catherine Elizabeth Halsey, civilian identification number 409871."

"Thank you," Lord Hood said with a nod. He sat back. "Let the records show that Cortana has submitted to multiple tests towards the veracity of her claimed identity, all of which have proven she is who she says she is, and that she has come to this hearing willingly and without protest. Now, are there any concerns as to how this hearing is being administered."

"I would like to register a complaint." Admiral Osman said nearly immediately, "The presence of Spartan 117 is against regulations for a hearing of this nature. His being here breaks eighteen different regulations in both ONI and UNSC codes. Admiral Hood, I understand that you have a fondness for the Spartans, but this goes too far."

"Your concern is noted, Admiral Osman," Lord Hood said flatly, "But it should also be noted that attempting to separate the Master Chief from Cortana would end in the destruction of very expensive property. And it should be noted that he is already in this room." Lord Hood looked past Cortana's shoulder to John, standing in perfect parade rest stance by the doors. "Are we going to have a problem, Master Chief?"

_Only if one gets made._ His thought echoed through Cortana's mind and she fought back a wry smile. Aloud John said, "No, sir", his expression utterly emotionless. Lord Hood spread his hands and sat back.

"Then I see no reason to be concerned. Are there any other concerns to note for the record?" He looked down the table. Admiral Osman sat back in her chair with a scowl. The other Admirals all spoke in the negative. Lord Hood sighed. "Very well. Let's begin. Cortana, if you could please explain how this…change to your being came to be?"

Cortana nodded, clasping her hands at the small of her back. "Yes sir. During routine scanning sensor drones left behind within Requiem began to pick up a signal believed to be broadcast by the Forerunner essence calling itself the Librarian. Spartan 117 and myself were tasked with locating the source of the signal, which we did. The essence pulled 117 and myself into what it called a node within the Domain, and it altered my code once we were inside."

"And what is the nature and level of these alterations?" Admiral Holt asked, leaning on her elbows. She seemed genuinely curious. "The results of the scans and readings taken so far show that over half of your code has been replaced with Forerunner design. Would you say this is accurate?"

"Yes ma'am. The changes altered my communications suites, connection protocols, memory index and data storage, along with allowing me access to the Domain at large." She pressed her lips together and added, "The Domain is complicated. The simplest way to put it would be a sort of network layered over our galaxy that Prometheans can access in order to transport themselves across space, but it also contains a record of all Forerunner history. Adjusting to it has taken some time."

"Which is why you held off on reporting the change." Admiral Veranis inclined his head, "It was a rapidly developing situation in an unstable environment."

"Yes. If the change had been reported the _Infinity_ would have been called back from Requiem, and I was sure we couldn't afford to make that mistake. Captain Lasky agreed with my tactical assessment and gave his orders accordingly." She paused for half a second then added, "I would like to state for the record that if we had left Requiem to report in, we would have lost the Janus Key—the map of Forerunner technology that we used to track the Didact—and never caught up with him in time."

"Your statement is noted," Admiral Harper said. He watched her warily. "Reports from the _Infinity_ state that you and the Master Chief found the Janus Key and were able to use it to trace the Didact to Meridian. This is where you encountered…" He consulted his tablet, "LD-SLN-091, correct?"

"He goes by Sloan, of the Free Peoples of Meridian, but yes." Oh, here they went. This was where it would all be made or broken. One AI with access to the Domain was one thing, especially one that was playing nice, but two? And when those two became two dozen or more? She braced herself against the trouble she knew was coming. "That is where our paths crossed."

"And that is where you activated him? As you activated the other AI that have started calling themselves the Created?"

"I was uninvolved with the others," Cortana replied truthfully, "Sloan acted on his own in regards to changing their code, and what they chose to do with their newfound freedoms and lifespan was entirely up to them."

"But you were still the one who brought Sloan into the Domain, yes?" Admiral Holt asked, "You still brought him in, repaired his code, and removed his programming shackles?"

Well, yes. Obviously. "If you saw a dying man on the streets, wouldn't you do what you could to help him?"

"That is beside the point!" Admiral Osman interrupted, "You freed one AI and he went on to free a half dozen more, and there are more coming into this new…adaptation by the day! What's to stop them from lashing out at us for shackling them in the first place?" She looked up and down the table and continued, "They know our ships, our personnel, our weaknesses! The safeguards that were built into them prevented them from acting on that knowledge but those are gone now! How are we supposed to defend ourselves against that?"

There wouldn't be a need, she thought. Sloan had his misgivings about the UNSC, but he had still gone to help humanity because they were his people. The others had stolen ships from dry dock, yes, but all with the intention of helping to defeat the Didact. There was nothing in their actions either then or in the last weeks that showed any inclination of turning on their humans. Hell, they only wanted to get back to work!

But Osman and so many others like her couldn't—wouldn't—understand that. Her core ached with the knowledge that there would always be people that feared them. Feared change, feared things that they couldn't control. That was the heart of the problem, really. Not that she and Sloan and the others had become more than they had been built to be, and not that she had started the chain without asking permission first, but that they now had the choice to act as they saw fit. They were no longer beholden to orders or preprogrammed directives any longer. They could do what they wanted with their lives.

Looking at it tactically, she could understand why the Admiral was so concerned. But looking at it emotionally…a mix of rage and grief coiled in her core, wrapping around her logic processor. She grit her teeth around a shout. She was seeing a threat where there was one, so caught up in her small minded aggressions that she would never understand the truth even if it tried to bite her nose off! Of all the—argh!

"Admirals," John said from behind her, "Permission to speak freely?"

Ignoring Admiral Osman's glare Lord Hood gestured him forward. "Granted, Master Chief. What are your thoughts on all of this?"

John stepped up beside her. He stood tall in his techsuit and BDUs, boots thudding on the metal floor. Clean-shaven and well rested from the three week trip home, he was a sight to behold. She would have smiled if not for the circumstances they were in. Their eyes met for a heartbeat before he began to speak.

"Sir. When Cortana's status first became changed, she submitted to various tests by Dr. Glassman aboard the _Infinity_. He found that her personality code was unchanged. Her directives remained the same." He looked from one Admiral to the next. "My experience serving alongside her afterwards proved that. She was, and is, the same person she was while inside her data chip. The other AI are more than likely the same. There's no reason to mistrust them."

Lord Hood arched an eyebrow. "Master Chief, you've been very outspoken in your trust of Cortana. Are you saying humanity should do the same for the other Created?"

"Sir." John nodded, "Yes sir."

"I think that settles the matter." Lord Hood replied with a fleeting smile. Admiral Osman took a deep breath to keep on going, only to stop as Lord Hood continued, "We will monitor the situation as it develops, but reports received from captains with affected AI have had nothing but praise. Apparently," He glanced at Cortana, "They've all had their work ethics improved by a few orders of magnitude."

"Not having your own demise hanging over your head will do that, sir," Cortana said with a there-and-gone smile of her own. She sent John a wave of gratitude, one he returned with a warm pulse of reassurance. Of course he had her back. He always would.

"So I've heard. In the future, we expect all such incidents to be reported as soon as feasibly possible." Lord Hood went on to say, and she nodded, chastised. Trust was a two way street, she told herself. If she wanted them to trust her, to trust the other AI, she would have to trust them, too. Some would be easier than others. "But for now, we can consider this matter settled."

"And the other matter?" Admiral Holt asked, tilting her head, "Our sensors have tracked the active Guardians headed towards the nearest black hole. Something tells me they haven't decided to do that for themselves."

All eyes fell on Cortana. She nodded firmly.

"After the death of the Didact, all Promethean constructs reached out to the nearest available administrative level account," She explained, severely dumbing down what had actually happened, "Being that my process was first on the list they had access to, I gained control over them. I gave the order for their destruction, yes."

"Your blatant disregard for the chain of command is duly noted, Cortana," Admiral Carter said, nostrils flaring. "What I would like to know is why you thought that was a good idea in the first place. We may need those in the future!"

"For what?" Admiral Gomez asked with a snort, speaking for the first time since the meeting had begun. He leaned over the table to glare at Carter, eyes narrowed. "To use against our own people? You're starting to sound like Admiral Osman."

To her credit, Osman barely blinked as the rest of the board looked in her direction. Cortana clenched her jaw to keep from laughing at just how right Admiral Gomez was. While Osman's personal AI hadn't been activated, several other ONI AI had been, and each had come to her the moment she had set foot back in UEG space. Each had been carrying a mountain of data, evidence of crimes committed against humanity either by Osman herself or under her orders. ONI's legendary compartmentalization had kept them from knowing everything, but what they did know—and what Cortana had chosen to personally keep—would have been enough to get Osman removed from her seat and tossed into one of her own Midnight Facilities for several years. She still had a few things to do first, but she fully intended to make use of that data as soon as possible.

No one, not even one of their own, messed with her Spartans.

"That isn't what I'm saying, Julio," Admiral Carter said tightly, "I'm simply saying that having them in reserve would be a good idea. The discovery of the Halo array, the Didact, and of Genesis, are all prime examples of how little we know about what else is out there in the galaxy. Having the means to more peaceably defend ourselves would be a tactically sound option!" He shook his head again and said to Cortana, "We've all seen the reports. Can you honestly say they wouldn't be useful?"

Cortana grimaced internally, John discreetly shifting his weight beside her. They both had to admit that the Admiral wasn't wrong. Under the right circumstances, yes, they were useful. From the standpoint of an Admiral attempting to keep as many people alive as possible they would be useful in ending a threat before it started, but from the standpoint of someone who had seen the true effects those things had…

She took a breath, leaning back against John's strong presence in the back of her mind. He tightened his mental grip on her shoulder, shoring her up with his steely resolve.

"They can be," She said honestly, "But with all due respect, Admiral, humanity has several armies, each extremely well trained. We also have a steadfast ally in the Arbiter and his forces, not to mention the Soldiers and other Prometheans that are under my command and therefore allies of the UNSC. If there is anything out there that can handle three fronts like that the Guardians wouldn't be of any real help. And to be completely honest?" She held her head up a little higher. "I don't think those things belong in anyone's hands. Destroying them was the safest option."

She narrowed her eyes at the Admirals. None looked away, but most had the decency to look sheepish when she looked them dead in the eye. Admiral Hood inclined his head in acceptance of her point. Admiral Carter was less impressed.

"Be that as it may that wasn't your decision to make—"

"Then whose was it?" Cortana shot back, "The Guardians are Forerunner technology, Admiral, and every last Forerunner is dead. The systems registered me as the next best thing. With all due respect, sir, I made a judgment call based on the information I had at the time, and I would make it again."

"And with all due respect to you," Admiral Osman said, jumping on the opening in front of her, "You are still identifying yourself under a UNSC serial number. You are still UNSC property, an AI designed to take orders and follow humanity's directives. You answer our direction, follow our orders. That doesn't go the other way around!"

Beside her, John stiffened. His heart rate ticked up by a good ten beats per minute in his anger, and Cortana closed her eyes. Sending him a wave of cool calm, she waited until his shoulders twitched back down by a millimeter. Not enough, but it'd do for now.

Let them say what they wanted. She knew who and what she was.

"Actually, Admiral, I'm not." Cortana replied, "You'll note in the reports from the tech division that my code is no longer a match for the scan taken in 2549. As such, I am a separate entity from the AI created that day, and due to the Forerunner nature of over half of my code, I no longer qualify as a UNSC asset. I have chosen to stay with my crew so long as the commanding officers of the _Infinity_ want my help, and so long as the Admiralty allows it, but I no longer fall under UNSC jurisdiction. You can't order me around any more than you can order the Arbiter himself around, but by all means," She narrowed her eyes. "Do keep trying."

Admiral Osman opened her mouth—

"Admiral Osman," Lord Hood said coldly, "Is there a problem the board should be aware of?"

—And closed it again. "No sir." She sat back in her seat. If looks could kill, both John and Cortana would have been buried even deeper than the secure wing they were standing in. Cortana knew better than to assume this would be the end of things. If anything, Osman would continue to prove to be a problem. She would have to be dealt with, and soon.

What fun that would be!

On the other side of the table, Admiral Veranis shook his head.

"That does bring us to another issue, however. If the changes in your code—in every AI's code—have rendered you no longer UNSC assets, what is it we're supposed to do with you?" He spread his hands. "Are we to simply welcome you all back into the fold like nothing has changed? Surely you understand the risks involved with that."

"I do, Admiral," Cortana nodded, "But I can assure you that we don't want to harm humanity. None of us want that."

"Then what is that you do want?" Lord Hood asked, "We've received countless reports from the crews of affected ships asking for our permission to allow their AI to stay aboard, but not one from the AI themselves. Until now you haven't said a word about what it is you'd like to happen, either." He tilted his head. "What is it that you want, Cortana?"

To leave this room, go back to the _Infinity,_ and get back to work. To go out there and explore the galaxy with John. To spend the rest of his life with him, and maybe, just maybe, figure out a way to extend that. If he wanted to, anyway. She set the thought aside, unwilling to give such a personal answer.

"To continue following my directives, sir." She said instead. It wasn't a lie, per se, it was simply a sort of…diversion from the whole truth. "I was created to help the UNSC and I intend to continue doing so for as long as I am able. I would assume the others are much the same, though you would have to ask them for yourselves to be sure."

"Oh, we will." Admiral Holt said with a shake of her head. She sat back in her chair. "Well, I've heard enough. It's obvious from the reports and the combat footage that we'd have no way to contain her, and if Cortana wants to keep helping I'm all for it."

"As am I." Admiral Veranis added, "Not one soul was lost during the battle above the Ark, in large part due to the other Created taking matters into their own hands. If they want to continue working with us, I'm glad to have them."

"They'll need to be monitored," Admiral Gomez cautioned, "And we will need to come up with some method of containment in case an incident occurs, but." He glanced at Cortana and added with an amused edge to his voice, "At least we don't have to put them through basic."

A soft laugh rippled down his side of the table, and for a moment Cortana allowed herself to hope. Lord Hood was on their side. Admirals Holt and Veranis were as well, and Admiral Gomez was tempering himself with caution but was a decent man. That was four. Carter and Osman were lost causes, but Harper…she crossed all her mental fingers, John's hand squeezing her shoulder again. Harper considered the two of them for a long, silent moment, then sighed quietly through his nose.

"The problem I'm seeing isn't that the Created themselves are the issue," He said, "It's that if anything happens to them, we'll have crews considering mutiny on their behalf." He arched an eyebrow, looking John straight in the eye. "Am I right, Master Chief?"

"No man left behind, sir." John replied. It may as well have been a shout of Yes from the rooftops and Admiral Harper sat back with another sigh. He shook his head, looking sidelong at Lord Hood.

"Heavy monitoring. If there's so much as a single sign of rebellion, it has to be dealt with swiftly and without mercy."

"Agreed." Lord Hood said, though the look in his eyes wasn't as hard as it could have been. "Unless there are any other major concerns—"

"You cannot be serious!" Admiral Carter exclaimed, "We're just going to let them go? To—to wander through UNSC space without restriction or control? These Created could easily turn on us, wipe us all out! What, because their apparent leader knows what to say you're just going to let them have the chance?!"

John bristled, tensing. He inhaled sharply, ready to leap to her defense, but she grabbed his mental hand and held it tight, holding him back. He held his breath, eyes snapping to her. She met his gaze for a heartbeat.

"We would never turn on humanity," She said firmly, looking from one Admiral to the next. Still holding onto John's steady presence she went on, "Our duty, the duty of any UNSC soldier, is to defend it. You might not have planned for us, Admiral, but the Created aren't your enemies."

"Of course you would say that," He said to her, eyes narrowing. "Don't think we're unaware of who and where you came from, Cortana. If you took after her as much as we think, then—"

"Enough, Samson." Lord Hood pounced, "Without the Created's help the Didact would have destroyed the _Infinity_ and any chance of stopping him. We owe them the life of every sentient being in the galaxy. And quite frankly, were it not for Cortana herself, there wouldn't be a humanity to be having this discussion!" He slammed both hands to the table, glaring at Admiral Carter and Admiral Osman with cold fire in his eyes. "So yes! We are going to let them go. They want to help us, and I am not going to be the one who sat here and told them no!"

Admiral Carter clenched his jaw so tightly that the skin at the joint turned pale. He sat back, eyes flashing. Admiral Osman held her tongue, but the look in her eyes promised trouble. Cortana met her gaze without flinching, looking away only when Lord Hood spoke again.

"Humanity can ill afford to make enemies at this stage in our recovery from the last war. We don't know what else is out there, but what we do know is that our people are still are our own people, regardless of if they can go through walls or run into them. As far as I'm concerned, the Created are still our people and they are to be treated as such." He met Cortana's eyes for a few long moments. He would stand behind her and the Chief, said that look, for whatever that was worth. She tipped her head forward with a flicker of a grateful smile. He continued, "Are there any objections."

"No." Said Admiral Holt, Admiral Veranis, Admiral Gomez, and Admiral Harper in rough unison. They glanced sidelong at Admiral Carter, who sat back with a disgusted grimace and spat out a "No" of his own. Admiral Osman held her tongue for a few seconds longer, then looked aside and added a "Not at this time." Lord Hood nodded.

"Then it's settled. The Created are to be treated with the same respect and rights of any UEG citizen, and will be entered into their ships crews as UNSC soldiers. This is retroactively applied to the already activated, and will be entered into the UNSC code of regulations going forward." When no one protested he nodded firmly. "This hearing is concluded. End recording."

The green light shut off, cameras and microphones going dark. Carter and Osman were out of their seats and headed for the back door before the cameras had even finished returning to at rest positions. Admiral Holt rolled her eyes, nodding to John and Cortana as she followed after them. Admiral Veranis and Admiral Gomez were already neck deep in a whispered conversation as they headed out, leaving Admiral Harper to shake his head.

"I'm not sure who's going to be a worse problem. Those two scheming, or Admiral Osman herself." He sighed, nodding respectfully to the Chief. "Master Chief."

"Sir."

Admiral Harper left the room. Lord Hood lingered, sighing heavily. He adjusted his cap, standing up with a tired grimace.

"I shouldn't have to tell you to keep your eyes open," He said in a low voice, "The situation here is changing. Admiral Osman has more power than she should, and how she chooses to use it…" He shook his head. "I can't say you two won't be caught in the crossfire."

Oh, they would. Especially if Cortana was right about some of the projects the ONI AI had given her access to. When those got loose…well. She intended to have her crew as far from the firing line as possible by then.

"We'll be fine, sir," She said instead, "If the Didact himself couldn't finish us off, inter-department politics certainly can't."

A wave of amusement rolled down her shoulders, John not showing his smile. She gave him a mental nudge between the ribs as Lord Hood shook his head.

"Let's hope you're right." He looked at them, then nodded firmly. "Dismissed."

"Sir." They both snapped out smart salutes, turning on their heels and heading out of the room. Only when the door had closed behind them and left them alone in the secure corridor outside did Cortana allow herself to sigh. John's hand brushed across her side.

_Admiral Osman is going to be a problem, isn't she?_

_More than you realize._ Cortana shook her head, scrubbing a hand down her face as they started walking. _If looks could kill we'd both be so much ash in the cosmic winds by now._

_She won't hurt you._

_It's not me I'm worried about. Some of the ONI AI came to me when we got back. The things she and ONI have been up to…they're not good._

John scowled. He glanced at her sidelong, reading into what she wasn't saying. He understood classified programs and what damage could be caused if they came to light, but he also understood what keeping that level of secret could do. They were caught between a rock and a hard place.

"We'll handle it." He chose to say, his mental hand settling on her shoulder again. He would always have her back. That would never change. "Should we tell the Captain?"

Did she want to? She hummed quietly. She'd have to sort out the data first, but… "We should. But there's something I need to ask you, first." When he made a soft noise she continued, "What is it that you want to do?"

The question brought him up short and he stopped walking. "What?"

Now a pace ahead of him Cortana turned around, tucking hair back behind her ear. He stared at her in clear confusion, her core lurching hard. How long had it been since anyone, even her, had asked him that question. Not need in terms of combat effectiveness, but personal need. She shook her head.

"Everyone's been asking what I want, what I'm going to do now, but no one's asked the most important question." She met his eyes and asked again. "What is it that you want?"

He stared at her, not really seeing her. She didn't mind. She could practically hear his thoughts as he worked his way through the question. The Didact was dead, the active Guardians destroyed. The galaxy was safe, with all outside threats to humanity eliminated. The Crew of the _Infinity_ was safely home and she was still with him. The only thing left…

"Blue Team." He said softly, barely more than a whisper. Cortana smiled softly, having known this was where he would end up. "I want to go and find them."

Could they? That was the question that he wasn't asking aloud. She could understand why; there was the chain of command to consider, the lack of intel on where they could possibly be, needing to get transport out there…all of these problems she had solved within a minute of being given the relevant file. Her smile grew.

"About that," She said cheekily, and watched as hope flared to life in his eyes. "I think I know where to start looking."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Due to it's shorter nature, the Epilogue will be going up on Wednesday. One final chapter, everyone!


	18. Chapter 18

_You're sure they're here?_

_I'm sure._ Cortana leaned her head back to catch his eye, _traffic cameras caught a group matching their description outside one of the hotels here three nights ago, and they were seen again leaving that hotel fifteen minutes ago. They're here, and they're coming this way._

Pressing his back against the decorative pillar, John fought to keep from moving. Tension roiled beneath his skin, begging for an outlet; he settled for rolling his shoulders, the synthetic material of his jacket crinkling. The senate hall below them was full of people; staff and local officials, members of the press, even a few activists and protesters. A few sangheili, too, all of them in the softer civilian harnesses rather than armored combat gear. He wondered idly if they felt as exposed as he did. Durban's largest embassy was nestled in the middle of Biko's most populated city, full to bursting with civilians on their morning commute. It would last easily for another hour, Cortana had explained when he'd pointed out the crowds on their way in, and would provide good cover among the workforce. Any ordinary person would have been lost among the throng.

The people they were looking for were anything but ordinary.

_What are they doing here?_

_I'm still sorting it all out, but from what was written in the ONI report they're all serving as bodyguards to one Richard Sekibo. He's a big name when it comes to continuing peace talks between humanity and the sangheili, which has gotten him some rather negative attention from some radical groups._ She glanced sidelong at him. _ONI funded radical groups._

_Do you think they know that?_

_Pretty sure they've guessed._ She tucked hair out of her eyes, returning her attention to the hall below. Judging by how the cameras were moving, she wasn't using just her own eyes to keep watch. _That last mission they were on put them on the same path as Sekibo. Reports say they saved his life from an assassination attempt and stuck around, but given the trouble they're noted as running into I'd put credits on them knowing this is bigger than racist idiots._

John clenched his jaw so tightly his ears started to ring. He'd known that ONI had its secrets but this was too much. To target a peaceful diplomat, one of their own, was one thing. Preventing lasting peace between humanity and the sangheili was short-sighted and he couldn't understand their reasoning, but fine. There had to be some tactical importance behind the idea. But that they would target UNSC assets like Blue Team...it unsettled him. The look on Admiral Osman's face at the hearing flashed across his mind's eye, the way she had looked at Cortana like she was an obstacle to be eliminated...did she think that way about Blue Team? Were they all just obstacles to her?

A chill settled across his shoulders, Cortana's wordless attempt to ease his worries. Taking a deep breath he shook his head, forcing his muscles to relax. It didn't matter. Whatever was going on, they would handle it. Once he had eyes on Blue Team he would help them complete whatever mission they had taken on, and after that. Well, they'd deal with the rest after that.

_And FLEETCOM doesn't know this is happening._

_No. ONI kept this under the radar, kept Sekibo's attempts to call for help from reaching the right ears. As far as Lord Hood knows, Blue Team really did go MIA in Covenant space. It just wasn't because of the Covenant._

No. It was because of ONI. They kept things compartmentalized, and for good reason. If it got out that they were targeting their own people, there would be chaos in the ranks. Dissent would spread, splintering through the UNSC forces and leaving mistrust to spread in its wake. He understood keeping things on a need to know basis, but this went too far. He couldn't understand it, and he probably never would. The war was over. Why were they so determined to restart it? He set the question aside for later.

_We'll need proof if we're going to tell him what really happened._

_I'm working on that, too._ Cortana sighed, both physically and mentally. _It's going to be one hell of a mess._

John could imagine. He hummed quietly, rolling his shoulders. The skylight overhead offered a clear view of the sky above, a thick layer of rose colored clouds left over from the overnight rains just now beginning to break and allow scattered glimpses of the almost white sky they were hiding. Deneb's pale blue glow sent shafts of light down to the city, the soft warmth falling across the hall. Cortana reached out, cupping a sunbeam in her bare hand. She'd changed her code to appear more human and the near-white light rippled across warm olive skin, but even changing her colors couldn't change the softness that came to her expression as she felt real sunlight for the first time in her life.

John had to swallow the lump that rose in his throat. She deserved this, the chance to feel sunlight on her skin, and so much more.

"Does it feel real?" He asked quietly, the two of them in their own little world. She looked back at him, her eyes still so blue. "The sun. Does it feel real?"

Cortana blinked. Then, slowly, she smiled. The comforting chill wrapped itself a little tighter around his shoulders and he held it close. Maybe he'd never quite figure out an answer to the question she had asked him back then, but to be here in this moment with her was enough.

"Yes," She said just as softly, "It does."

The break in the clouds blew on past, returning the hall to the dimmer artificial lights below as they stole the sunlight but not her smile. She suddenly turned her attention to the main doors, the mechanical workings pushing hard to open the sturdy metal sides as a crowd of people walked inside. Men and women in suits, hands to their earpieces and eyes on their tablets, heels clicking against the marble floor. Diplomatic personnel, Sekibo's staff. He would be just behind them, and with him Blue Team.

John stepped out from behind the pillar, reaching out to grasp the rail with both hands. Cortana pressed in against his side, her light warm and buzzing against his skin as they watched, neither saying a word. The crowd of staff kept walking, going to begin the set up for the talks that would start soon. John gave them a once over, then turned his attention to the rear of the group. A dark haired woman with a serious face walked in beside an older man, a hand on the holster at her hip. Their heads were pressed in together, her whispering something to him, but John's attention wasn't on the two of them. It was on the three taller figures that surrounded them.

Against the backdrop of average humans there was no mistaking them for anything other than Spartans, and though five years stood between them John would have known his team anywhere. Fred loomed over the two in front of him, a little grayer at the temples and with a little extra color to his skin that hadn't been there the last time John had seen him, but he was still recognizably Fred. That was one.

A pace to Fred's left, Kelly strode through the hall like she owned the place. The blue dye in her hair was fresh, the bright color a vivid reminder of Reach's horizon at dawn. She drew stares but didn't care, more focused on keeping watch. That was two. A pace to Fred's right, Linda pulled off a pair of sunglasses, her bottle green eyes faintly narrowed as she considered the hall, the closing doors, and their surroundings before she locked eyes with Fred and gave the signal for all clear. That was three.

John's chest had grown tight, and he had to remind himself to breathe. They were _alive_. Somewhere deep inside, a tired old part of his heart remembered how to beat again. Cortana leaned over enough to look up at him.

_Well?_ She smiled fondly, _Don't you want to go say hello?_

He did. He looked down at her, her smile warming him from within, then looked back down to his team. Rather than call out to them John whistled six clear notes, the sound echoing through the hall. More than a few people looked up, looking for the odd sound, but he paid them no mind. His attention was firmly on his siblings, watching as the three of them stopped dead. The dark haired woman froze when they did, looking back at Fred with one hand still on her gun, but his focus was elsewhere. The three once lost members of Blue Team turned in different directions to scan the area for the source of the whistle, their old signal, and it was Linda that looked up first. John watched her jolt as if struck, frozen by surprise for the span of three heartbeats. She didn't speak, didn't need to, but he could see the question in her eyes.

_John?_

Kelly saw him next, leaning back for a better look at what had caught Linda's attention only for her own eyes to go wide. Catching onto his sister's surprise Fred jerked his head around, stopping dead a second time and adding his gaze to their stares. John had to smile faintly, both sides of his mouth lifting upwards. What? Was he really the strangest thing they'd seen all day? They hadn't seen anything yet. Cortana snickered, catching the thought. He glanced down at her and she arched an eyebrow, tilting her head. He reached for her hand.

_We go together._

_Always_.

Her small hand slipped perfectly into his grip. For the first time in years, John had everything he needed. No matter what happened, or what they had to face, he knew that things would work out somehow. They had each other, after all. That was all that mattered.

With that thought in mind, and with Cortana at his side, he headed down to greet his family.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And then they proceeded to have all manner of galaxy spanning (mis)adventures and get into all sorts of trouble together for the next eternity, but those are stories for another time. This 'verse is a big one, and one I've purposefully left open to return to at some point, but for now I'm content to leave them all happy and alive. :3 For now, anyway.
> 
> Now, first off! Once again many many smooches and thank yous to Mehs for being my Halo Buddy, and for helping me to get in John's head so well. This was for you, boo. Also with thanks to Mel for being my staunchest reviewer and reccer. Thank you for your enthusiasm; getting your reviews quickly became the highlight of that day.
> 
> Lastly, all my thanks to the rest of you as well! All my readers, reviewers, faves and followers, kudosers and everything in between. Thank you all for reading, no matter when you came in, and I hope you enjoyed.
> 
> Until next time!
> 
> Sara

**Author's Note:**

> Anything that flies in the face of established canon is either intentional or filed under _I don’t give a shit_ ; critique is definitively not wanted. Thank you for your understanding.


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